Week 1 Meet Prep - Bench

Bodyweight - 240

Close Grips -
bar x 50
135 x 15
185 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
345 x 3 all reps paused

Incline -
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
275 x 10

Db Curls - 4 sets of 20
Upright Db Rows - 3 sets of 20

Notes - Since lots of guys asked me about programming I uploaded this video of my first night of close grips. All the reps were paused and notice the speed of the bar.  If you can't hit your first weeks top set for a triple like this with all the reps paused, you programmed WAY too heavy.

This was an excellent session.  But the first week usually is.

Thoughts about life, crap, training and stuff

I actually caught up on some movies the last couple of weekends!  Fuck yeah.

Cowboys and Aliens - I liked this flick . Everyone told me it wasn't very good or was just "ok" but I actually enjoyed it.  Mainly because, it was about Cowboys and Aliens.  Just like the title told me it was.  

Seriously, I am a big sucked for character evolution in a movie.  And I really liked Harrison Ford's character and the way he changed throughout the flick.  Also Olivia Wilde is hawt.  This was enough for me.  

Ride of the Planet of the Apes - Good, but not anywhere near as great as I had heard.  I will give my reasons, and yes spoilers mother fucka.  So if you're one of those little bitches that whine "don't tell me, don't tell me!" because of spoilers then skip over.

When he had to give up the monkey, he didn't shed a fucking tear.  I mean, seriously that ape was like a kid to him.  He had raised it for 5 years and kept him hidden and everything but he dropped him off and was like "well, I'll make it back when I can!"  This disconnected me from the flick a lot.  Then, he actually did come back and the monkey was pissed off at him because he couldn't take him home, even though he explained why.  The so called "super smart monkey" then turned his back on his "father" because of it.  Completely unrealistic to me.  Yes I know, it's a movie about talking monkeys, but you still have a certain reality bubble that any movie sits in, and once it is shattered, I lose interest.  It didn't shatter in this one, but I lost some connection with it.  Still, a solid flick.  Just a little overrated for me.

"Sorry about jail, brah"

True Grit - Loved this flick.  Mattie Ross' character was worth the movie alone, however the dynamic's of Rooster (Jeff Bridges) and LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) really put it over the top.  I watched this with the girls and I think we laughed for 10 straight minutes when the lawyer asked him "what direction were you going?" to which Rooster replied "I'm always going backwards when I'm backing up."  Man I laughed till my stomach hurt.  Good times.  And good flick.  I highly recommend it, and I do not like westerns.  

Razor tongued and smart as a whip

So Whitney Houston died.  I may or may not ruffle some feathers with this but here I go..........

I'm sure we're going to be inundated with shows and all sorts of shit celebrating her life.  I think it's bullshit.  The truth is, I think we should make an example of people who have it all, and throw it down the fucking drain to smoke crack or do hard drugs.  Why do we make martyrs of people like Kurt Cobain or Houston or any of these assclowns that live like royalty, then shit all over themselves with their own decisions?  I don't.  I am not "happy" that Houston died.  I didn't know the woman.  But I don't think it's some kind of terribly unhappy day either.  She has led a life of hard drugs for a long time now.  It's not like we don't know the pitfalls of such living.  No one ever thanked crack for giving them such an awesome life.  No one ever thanked heroin for putting their life back on the right path.  I get tired of our society putting the lives and then deaths of these people up as something to behold.  We should be making examples of them of how NOT to lead your life once you obtain a measure of success.

"Look at this woman kids, enough money to own her own country.  She died at 48 after living off a diet of crack and Bobby Brown for a few decades."

If the autopsy says she had no drugs in her system, I MIGHT retract all of this about Whitney, but my overall point still stands.

I picked up an old school chain wallet at the Wal-Fart yesterday.  Love it.  Wife hates it.  Not sure if I love it because the wife hates.  I'm not driving a semi yet though......

Old School, bitches.....

Ok so I'm sure I'm covered this but my layout for the meet is like so.......

Saturday - Squats
Squats
Pause Squats
Adductor Machine (optional)
Calf Raises

Monday - Bench
Close Grips
Incline
Curls

Wednesday - Deadlift
Block Deads
Deadlifts
Shrugs
Abs

That's it.  I may or may not even do the shrugs.  I just threw them in there because I might do some from time to time.  Saturday's squat session wasn't as "clean" as I hoped in terms of speed but that's kinda to be expected after not squatting for two weeks.  The pause squat down sets felt really good though.  I may back off some of my expectations a little bit as to give me the best chance of hitting 1800 beltless.  I may dial it back to 650-450-700.  I'm pretty sure no one else has gone 1800+ beltless at 242.  I don't want to end up missing it because I got greedy.  So we'll see.  That's what calibration is all about.

I may also add some chains to the pause squats on certain workouts.  I do not like bands for raw guys but I think that chains can serve a raw guy pretty well if implemented correctly.  And I'm not talking about my wallet either.

I'm happy to report that I have a graphics designer, and am working with her on a new shirt design, and I will be able to offer shirts in a few weeks at a very discounted price in comparison to what I have now.

I also happy to say that I have fitness competitor who will be getting on board the Lift-Run-Bang wagon soon, and contributing articles and talking about her contest prep, training, diet, and all sorts of other shit as well.  I have quite a few things in the work that if they pan out, are really going to add to the quality and quantity of the content I have here.  Expect a transition into a full website in the very near future.

It snowed about 3 inches here today.  Oh well, it's the first real snow of winter here in KC and it'll be gone by tomorrow.  I could deal with these kinds of winters no matter where I lived.  Been pretty f'n nice.

Zack is doing a nice job on the MMA blurbs don't ya think?

My 13 year old is training with me for this meet.  She's 105 and deadlifted 135 for two doubles this past week.  I knew her deadlifting would be pretty good because she's got monkey arms.  She sure as hell didn't get her deadlifting ability from dad.

It is Monday, so I hope everyone had an adventurous weekend and I hope your sucks if mine has to.  

MMA Blurb - Smoked

MMA Blurb - Smoked

Diaz would've rematched, but then he got high. So it's Condit vs GSP, or Condit defending the interim belt against someone else, but it won't be Diaz.


Any arguments that Diaz was robbed of victory at UFC 143, have now vanished in a puff of smoke. Whether he has a prescription for it doesn't matter. It's banned by the athletic commission in every state. This isn't the first time Diaz has tested positive for marijuana either. In his Pride FC debut against Takanori Gomi, he beat up Gomi, and ended up submitting him. The results for his test after his fight, came back at a whopping 175ng, leading some to believe he was high while fighting Gomi.

Regardless of your stance on legalization, trying to justify its use at a champions level is just silly. The losses for this mistake are already surmounting. He' lost his chance at a rematch, and in turn, lost his chance to be a champion in the UFC. He's facing up to a 1 year suspension, up to a $40k fine, and the likelihood of having to prove rehabilitation to the Nevada athletic commission, before being granted a license again.


Hopefully I am not the only sucker for Diaz, and he finds his way back into the octagon. There are plenty of good fights coming up this year to fill the gap, but none of them feel quite like Condit vs Diaz for the shot at GSP.

Hopefully UFC 144 will ease my mind.

Week 1 Day 1 - Meet Prep Begins

Bodyweight - 240

Warm up - lunges 2x20

Squats - bar x 4 set of 10
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 4
365 x 3
405 x 2
425 x 1
455 x 1
475 x 1

Pause Squats -
365x2x5

1 Legged Calf Raises - 3 sets of 20

Notes - Excited to start meet training.  Everything felt a little off seeing how I haven't really squatted in almost two weeks, but it'll be back by next week.

What are you asking yourself?

• Am I training too hard?
• I am.  I'm tired and dread the gym. 
• Back off and take time off until you're hungry again.
• I'm kicking ass and enjoying myself and making boss gains.  Leave me the fuck alone, shit is going good.  
• Nothing to see here.  
• Am I training hard enough?
• No?  Why not?  
• I'm cruising and just having fun.  
• I'm fucking up and needed a wake up call.  Thanks.
• Am I training often enough, or too often?
• Are you training more than 3X a week?  Yes.  
• I'm doing some bodypart specialization.  It's cool.  
• I've lost sight of my own philosophy.  Thanks for reminding me.  
• No.  Shit is perfect.  You know this from decades of doing this shit.
• What is my current short term goal?
• Did I write that shit down or am I just winging it?  
• I'm just winging it?  No wonder I haven't felt like shit is moving in any direction.
• I wrote it down, dawg.  
• I got a plan.  Watch me break my foot off in it's ass.
• Am I getting enough sleep?  
• I'm not, and it's fucking me up.  I need to get into a routine again.
• Hit the Lunesta for 3-4 nights in a row to catch up.  Quit worrying so much.
• Sleep has been great.
• Really?  Wow.  That's unusual.  
• Am I eating "right"?  
• Fuck no.  You've been blowing your diet left and right.  
• Get your fucking shit straight and get back on track.
• Hellz yes.  Diet has been tight.  
• Are you foam rolling?  
• No.  
• God dammit, Paul.  You are always so lazy about this and then cry like a bitch when your IT band gets inflamed.  
• Start foam rolling again.  
• Yes.  
• Really?  
• No.  
• God dammit, Paul!  
• Are you conditioning?  
• Yes.  
• Awesome.
• No.
• Twice a week to start.  Steady state for a week, then 10 40-yard sprints, then up to 15-20 over the next three weeks.  After that, hills once a week.  You know the routine.  
• Are you including prehab work?  
• No.
• Get on it.  You know it doesn't take much effort to include it.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of torn adductors.  
• Yes.  
• Good shit.  
• Have you reached or exceed a goal in the last 6 months? 
• Yes.
• Good man.  
• No.
• Read this list again.

Random Music Post

Sweet video.......

MMA Blurb - Diaz vs Condit I

What happened?

I had assumed Diaz would be the victor.  It wasn't just the Vegas odds either.  I genuinely like the Diaz brothers and tend to favor them, even over someone more like-able like Donald Cerrone.  From the moment the fight was announced, to the moment just before Condits name rang out as interim champ, my bias assured me Diaz would win.  When the announcer listed the judges scoring, I was sure it was Diaz winning.  So was Diazs corner.  Rogan commented on his podcast, that he had scored the fight for Condit while ringside, but scored it for Diaz when viewing it the next day.

The camera angels, the replays, and overall versatility of viewing it on his tv, versus viewing it ringside changed his opinion.  So after talking about the fight with friends, I watched it again.  I pretended to hate Diaz, and this time I saw how it could have gone either way.  The fightmetrics show Condit throwing more strikes in every round.  I still felt that Diaz did a better job at controlling the cage the majority of the fight.

But charging ahead and taking punches, is worse than retreating and avoiding them.

Don't leave it up to the judges.  Ive heard this so many times, it makes me wish judges were not necessary. Considering MMA can't be sanctioned state-to-state, let alone judged consistently, removing judging isn't something that is viable at this point.  What we can do is attempt to add consistency to their efforts.  Tools like instant replay or tactics like spreading out the judges could be employed.  In twenty years, the nano-tech will exist to just embed the sensors into the fighters bodies and gloves.  A lot of epic fights can happen between now and then, and my hope is that we move towards enabling judges to be consistent so that $20K gloves are not needed.

So what about a rematch?

Well that was my first thought after the decision.  Why not?  The entire road-map to this fight has been wrought with plan changes. GSP is going to need some time to heal and get into shape.  Also, Diaz isn't mentioned in the list of medical suspensions.  If he accepted, his motivation might make Diaz vs Condit II, better than Diaz vs Anything.

-- Zack