Friday, March 8, 2013

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Friday juice edition

Talked to my best buddy Pegg last night for a while.  He's always very quotable and in regards to some shit I've been dealing with, he told me "at some point you have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze."  

Indeed.

Ok for everyone starting phase 2 of 365, it's 100 rep curls and any tricep work you want.  I realize I wasn't specific in that section however that's probably because I don't think some tricep isolation work will make or break the program.  Just do 5x20 with something.  There.  Happy?

Don't expect my training log to look exciting for quite a few weeks.  I sat down for weeks to figure out how to work in the base building methodology to the strong-15 and I finally got it all figured out, and I'm pretty excited about it.  As always, I will not promote or sell something that I have not done.  I refuse to sell a methodology that I haven't put into practice myself.  I think this is a big reason why so many guys and gals that end up running my programs have such great success.  It's been applied and works, especially when you apply it with the principles I've outlined, and not with your ego.

Oh in case you didn't know, I am doing the USPF Nationals in Chicago the weekend of May 10th-12th.  I will be there all weekend for the most part.  If you read LRB or have bought any of my stuff, for the love of God, come say hi and let me shake your hand.

Anyway back to my training log, don't expect to see anything special.  I will be concentrating on being more explosive with the bitch weights I am using for at least another three weeks.  Last nights squats were fast and explosive however I know they can be better.  I also fucked up by not doing all of my back offs high bar, since I dropped fronts now.  I need the quad work and that's what the high bar work is for.  I do all of the over warm ups low bar however.  Best of both worlds.

I'm 248 here but don't let that fool you, I'm really 250 99% of the time.  


The same with pulls.  They will be done on a small deficit (just a 45 pound plate), around the 70% range for as fast as I can.  I will say I have not pulled after squats in a while.  I forgot just how tiring it is, but also how much more confident you are if you can rip certain weights off the floor AFTER lots of squatting.  I meant to do hypers last night after the pulls as well however I forgot a lot of things for last night, so I guess it was just par for course.

I haven't been logging it, but almost every morning I do a small session with 20 minutes of steady state.

Here is what I do and maybe you can see why -

Monday - optional for an a.m. session, if so generally upright rows, triceps, biceps
Tuesday - Bench - on bench days this is literally just bench and maybe some rows.  The next week it's incline and that's it.
Wendseady - a.m. upright rows, triceps, biceps
Thursday - Squat and pull - Squat and pull only.  Maybe some hypers.
Friday - a.m. good girl and bad girl machine, calves
Saturday - Back and Hams - This is generally Cable rows, Rowdowns (yes rowdowns god dammit), shrugs, and Good Mornings.
Sunday - a.m. rear delts, abs, obliques, and whatever else I need.  I might throw in some leg curls here.

Quality food list - 

If you haven't "liked" the LRB facebook page I generally update it with shit weekly that doesn't always go on here because well, it's easier.

For example my quality food list..........


My current quality food list, since I've been asked about it quite a bit this week -

free range whole eggs
coconut oil
organic butter
organic chicken and beef, wild caught salmon
white and sweet potatoes
oatmeal
nut butters
almonds
cottage cheese
organic frozen berries
jasmine rice
ezekiel bread
organic jelly
broccoli
asparagus

supps -
whey protein iso and casein hydro
vitargo
animal paks

Stimulants - 

I don't use any stims for preworkout. Maybe a monster now and then, but I think stims can keep fatigue levels masked and fuck with recovery, inhibiting a certain amount of fatigue awareness. This is totally my opinion and I have zero science behind it, nor can I think of a way to prove that with science.

I just think that if you can't get it done with your nutrition something must be off, i.e. you're not managing your fatigue levels correctly with your training volume/frequency.



Who would want this shirt?


I have no idea if I'd really sell it because I can just hear the whining from the feminist crew (don't be sexist....bitches hate that!).  It was a comment on my Facebook page from Larry Brown and I thought it was hilarious.  It was based on a comment related to Alistair Overeem.


Lastly, some Friday "motivation" about life -


What someone else thinks you can or can't do or accomplish is completely fucking irrelevant in your life. They have no power or control over that.

If you want to invite devastation into your life and live a hollow existence, then go ahead and base your goals on proving other people wrong. If you win, it will never taste as sweet as you expected it to taste. If you lose, the bitterness will be worse than you could have ever imagined.

Live within yourself, design your own world, and the aspirations you have for it. Stop living through heroes and ghosts and become whatever it is YOU desire most in life. Never compromise your vision or deter from your path because someone else tells you "you can't".

The only thing you CAN'T do, is see your goals and needs come to fruition when you're wasting time trying to prove others wrong.


18 comments:

  1. Paul,

    That is a awesome shirt idea and would buy one if you decided to produce them.

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  2. That is a awesome shirt idea and would buy one if you decided to produce them. [2]

    International shipping?

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  3. That shirt would be epic. Please do it, haha.

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  4. I'm pretty sure the most delicious thing in the world is a PB&J or PB+honey made with the cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread, almond butter, and jelly/honey. Just thought I'd throw that out there considering all 3 of those ingredients are on your list.

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  5. Great motivation there! I like it!

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  6. That shirt would be awesome! You should wear it to the USPF meet.

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  7. For the second part of 365 on Day 3 it says Pause Squats - Strong 15. Am I supposed to be doing the 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 sets as well or just work up to the pause squat weight?

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  8. You know, a shirt that just read "Fuck bitches, hurt feelings" would make me laugh really hard. If you took the "juice up" part out I would buy it. I don't have anything against steroids, I just couldn't wear a shirt like that if I didn't actually do them.

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  9. Do you think some type of RPT training would go well with Carb Nite?
    (The goal is just to maintain strength while losing some fat I've gained during my first linear progression so I can hit another linear in a few months without getting super fat in this whole process.)

    Example:

    Monday- RPT Squats plus some assistance

    Wednesday -RPT Overhead Press plus some assistance

    Friday- RPT Deadlift plus assistance

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    Replies
    1. I don't answer questions about training systems I don't endorse or promote. Not a dick answer, I just don't. Makes no sense.

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  10. I've read your blog for a good eight months now, and I would never claim to be any sort of bit of strong, but I definitely benefit from reading your input on every thing you offer. I don't program my lifts very successfully because I only JUST started skwattin' like four weeks ago because my knees would not let me, so I figured my form was totally wrong for myself (and after seeing Jamie's and your opinions on finding what works for you... I just started standing a little wider and it's been a revelation), so obviously I'm not any kind of competitive lifter. I'll admit I'm one of those scrub dudes that sort of just maintains my weight and has continued to get stronger (after 12 months of 3-5 training days, I've made satisfactory gains on bench and dead, and like I said squats are new after wanting them for so long...), but I totally enjoy the exercise besides. I bought Kiefer's CarbNite and am currently a REALLY paltry 150lbs after 5 weeks of the program, but I'm maintaining strength as far as the important lifts go, and transitioning to the diet you specifically laid out in that Kiefer podcast. Mostly because your version of the whole thing lays out a more realistic human approach to things and you're honest about it which I like, because I'm not capable of being the phenomenon dude who diets like a goddamn robot and cuts out most enjoyable things. Anyway, my point was that I think you're doing a great job documenting your progress, knowledge, and thoughts on expanding your personal strength. Keep it real man.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for that write in, Scott. Very refreshing just to get a "thanks". Preciate that, dawg.

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  11. Paul, have a couple random questions for you...

    1. What is the longest period of time you've heard of someone running a program in which they work up to 1 balls-out set on each lift every week?

    2. In your opinion, why is this strategy not sustainable in the long term-does it have more to do with physical or mental stress/strain?

    Thank you .

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    Replies
    1. 1. Probably myself or Dorian Yates

      2. Injuries, mental fatigue.

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    2. Thank you for the response.

      What exactly are the injuries a result of, as opposed to a 'base building' approach (70-80%)?

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    3. That's an awfully broad question. There's no one answer that I can give. But generally asking the muscle to do something it can't do without tearing. Either on a small scale, or away from the tendon itself.

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