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Among the things I mentioned I would do sometime ago was to diet. Not because I thought I’d get my six-pack out, but simply because I started to get a little too flabby for my taste, powerlifter stereotype notwithstanding (hey, even my hair is blasphemous…). Sudden twist! Since I began working at the school in August, I’ve had to tighten my belt two notches to shield myself from grave embarrassment while my weight has dropped from about 97 kg/214 lbs to 95 kg/210 lbs. From all I can tell this trend continues.

As you probably know, it is quite standard practice to induce a calorie deficit of 3,500 kcal/week in order to reach the magic 0.5 kg/1 lbs reduction per week that is generally thought to be metabolically sustainable. This can be done either by lowering caloric intake by 500 kcal/day on average (not getting into calorie cycling here) or by increasing energy consumption by the same amount (you could also mix these, but not getting into that either). Yes, and…?

Well, today was the first day I had the pedometer on me. I knew I was walking a lot (hence lower leg problems), but had no way of telling how much. The pedometer was doing its pedometering from the time I left for work until I got back home: 14,236 steps. Quite a moderate day it was, yet it way surpassed the Holy grail of 10,000 steps. Given a stride length of 65 cm (measured), today’s walking amounted to 9.25 km/5.75 miles. Naturally, not every step I take is a full step, but on the other hand the meter wasn’t on at home, in the gym or when I went to for groceries in the evening. Punch line! Based on my weight, the pedometer estimates my caloric consumption at 879.38 kcal. Any wonder I am shedding fat? Since my sorry bench is going up (at least for reps) at the same time, I’d say I’m doing pretty well.

Will continue using the pedometer at least for this week, so more torturous stats to come. Brace yourselves.

I went to bed before 22pm yesterday to be in top shape for the floor pressing. About an hour later I was cleaving the night in a taxi bound for the hospital as Sanna had developed a nasty stomach pain that seemed to only grow worse. The short of it is that a splitting headache and lack of concentration sunk today’s workout. As I returned to hospital after work, Sanna was diagnosed with appendicitis (not related to the birthday binge). After midnight there was one appendix less in this family. Sometimes you couldn’t care less about a bad workout, and that is a good thing.

Ironically, yesterday I read an article in MILO by Fred Hutchinson entitled Training When You Just Can’t Concentrate where he outlines his strategy for training when life hits you smack in the face. His time-tested personal solution is a workout consisting only of ten sets singles with the same weight on one or two exercises.

[I] found that, no matter what was running through my head right before each lift, I could focus for the few seconds it took for one heavy effort. [..] The fact that the weight is on the heavy side also aids in concentration. [..] [N]o matter what’s on your mind, when you feel that heavy bar on your back or in your hands, your instincts will kick in. [..] And now for the best part: while you’re doing the lift, the mental chatter shuts off. It’s only for a couple of seconds, but what a relief! So you see, not only are you training productively, but you’re also getting a break from the world - call it barbell therapy if you want.
Hutchinson, Fred: Training When You Just Can’t Concentrate. MILO 12:2, September 2004: pp. 28-31.

This episode didn’t shake me up very badly nor was I ever really worried, but I have a feeling I agree with the author: not abandoning your training and nutrition is a good coping strategy in times of pain and worry. That said, it would be a folly to think that you could just continue with your regular routine. The barbell has an unfortunate tendency to sway with the mind long before it gets really bad.

29. I’m turning into an old fart quick, but at least I am getting somewhat stronger in the process. Today was also the autumnal equinox. Darkness will soon embrace us.

The workout itself was but a sweaty prelude to the real deal: birthday dinner at Kabuki courtesy of my lovely fiancée. It turned into a massive protein overload as I ate my way through a pile of sushi with plenty of wasabi, miso soup, vegetables, rice, yakiniku and wanna-be Japanese fried bananas. Raw fish is the good life. I would surely become twice as strong within two months if I popped ten rolls of sushi postworkout instead of that lousy whey protein-maltodextrin shake. I need to fit a small fridge into my locker without further delay. There are also some electrical issues to sort out and hurdles in my supply chain of fresh tuna to overcome.

Fully recovered muscles and enough time on the pillow topped with a bottle of Adrenalyn Stack provided a good base for today’s Blakley bench workout. On the flip side, the left calf is still sending pain my way when I lay down on the bench with feet on the floor. I always teach standing/walking and the extra 2½ hours on Thursday did cause pain to surge. Based on feedback from Sanna and her books on sports massage, this sounds like an anterolateral shin splint caused by extensive walking in an unnatural posture with lumbago. Since I spend a sizable part of the day walking (to find out just how much, I’ve borrowed a trendy pedometer), getting rid of the irritation is not too easy. Sanna has vowed to give me a daily rub to loosen the fascia and I’ve started to apply a piroxicam based anti-inflammatory gel several times daily. This is ridiculous. Am seriously considering renaming this blog to Limping under the bar, but ain’t giving up.

Despite the discomfort, this was another great workout. I increased the heavy singles to 92.5 kg/204 lbs and was only two reps short of nailing 4x6 on my first go at repping with 80 kg/177 lbs. I only had time for some back work before calling it a day and contently limping towards new adventures.

There is a shelf in the teachers’s room that is brimming with skimmed milk powder, rolled oats, egg noodles, Japanese soy sauce, lemon juice and several kinds of tuna. Not only did I grow mighty tired of always going hungry when sitting at school in the afternoon correcting homework, but I also decided it was time I made something about having to go to the nearest gas station to get some quick and greasy protein every time I train at the school gym. Now I’ve got my own box in the gym with protein powder, corn maltodextrin and a shaker. I’ve made myself at home save for the chalk.

Had some microwaved milk based oat porridge pre-workout. For once, I wasn’t doing my floor presses to the tune of my stomach (much preferred Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity’s Of chaos and eternal light album). It was a pinch, but I got the required 4x6 on both the floor press and the barbell triceps extensions. My thigh is still an issue, but much less so than last week. In fact, I had no major problems with going heavier on the pulldown, but I could feel it when I started straining on the seated dumbell curls (!). Good workout and nice to get a postworkout shake for once.

Now that the beginning of the school year feels like old news, the academic year is about to kick into full gear and I’m back lecturing at the University of Helsinki. I’ve taught this particular course, Contemporary Chinese History, two years ago, but somehow the usual work in combination with lecture polishing drove me to skip Wednesday rehab and going light on sleep. The scheme now is to heat up the sauna to a nice 90°C/194°F or so and lay back with a nicely chilled bottle of Finnish Bear beer. Then some stretching and self-administered trigger point massage before tucking in for a nice long sleep in preparation for tomorrow’s floor pressing. Now, do I prepare the exam I’m giving tomorrow before or after this?

I have a sore throat and am feeling like I might just come down with something else too. The triceps were also a sore reminder of the Friday action, but still headed for the gym. Blakley bench day.

I had to slide my legs down on the floor ever so slowly, but they got there with some discomfort and I got my small arch. Given the adverse circumstances, I expected the heavy singles to crash somewhere in between too much and sluggish. 90 kg/199 lbs was a piece of cake and a walk in the park. Not only that, but I went far beyond just regaining my lost rep by finally nailing 4x6 @ 77.5 kg/ 171 lbs. Next week I get to bench with two big yellow plates a side, which is perversely gratifying. Am also wondering whether I should go ahead and increase the singles to 92.5 kg/204 lbs.

After the long-awaited joy of grip work, there was yet another seasoned lifter who couldn’t resist coming over to try the Rolling Thunder. He declared the 40 kg/88 lbs I had on it after my holds a piece and a walk. After I told him nobody had even locked out 60 kg/133 lbs in our gym yet, he asked me to prepare 65 kg/144 lbs. “I have long fingers”. No matter how he tried, it remained glued to the ground. After he managed to lock out 55 kg/122 lbs with the left, but not with the right, he was shaking his head like all his predecessors to whom I’ve uttered my favorite “how much do you think you’d pull with this handle?”. My conclusion is strengthened:

[T]he average lifter without thick bar training experience will probably fail at around the 55 kg/122 lbs mark give or take 5 kg/11 lbs.

To this I add that the average lifter will dramatically overestimate his/her ability with this handle unless they’ve heard about it somewhere first. That’s why they also tend to forgo the warm-up… Rest assured this wonderful tool remains unknown to the vast majority of lifters out there. That’s what makes showing them the RT great fun. Hey, who’s next?

The only exciting thing about this workout was the music. Die Krupps’s powerful Odyssey of the mind album stood in stark contrast with my light pumping efforts. Capped off with some 20 minutes of self-administered calf massage and stretching.

After a few skipped beats, I am back on Blakley despite some warm words for Korte’s 3x3 system. So far I’ve been mighty pleased with the progress, so I see no reason to abandon ship. The only thing I’m abandoning now is the Bradford press as my mushy back can’t take it nor swallow it. While at it, I’m also dismissing the JM press. It’s a pity because neither movement jammed quite yet.

Even the first new accessory movement, close-grip floor presses, proved to be a borderline case (VIDEO 1.9MB). I was happy I got to keep my legs bent as lying flat on the back is still somewhat painful; guess who has to lie on the side with tucked legs for a while before he can roll over to the back every night? It was four cautious sets, and even did much of the last two sets with my feet in the air to deload the back a little more. I love floor presses, especially when the spotter arms adjust to a perfect height.

Triceps extensions with a straight bar is my second new accessory movement. It took me a while to find a good setup that allowed easy unracking and feet up. 40 kg/88 lbs felt ridiculously easy, but Sudden Failure Syndrome (SFS) appeared when least expected on the last reps. Nobody expects the Sudden Failure Syndrome.

Not wanting to overstretch my luck, I was content with a very brief finish. Did very light pulldowns with feet resting on top of the leg pads instead of under them to lessen strain, a set of lying L-flyes and a set of seated dumbell curls. I don’t know if it is the angle of the upper pulley or the thick rubber cable, but this lat pulldown at school is probably the best one I’ve ever tried judging by the amazing lat pump. Bodybuilder, bodybuilder… gah.

First workout after my recent bout of lumbago. It was a moderate cocktail of easy rehab moves framed against a very contemplative background. I could tell my back was not quite over it yet, but overall things look A LOT brighter than in Lumbago Episode I. With the hams and calves feeling like they are still on the verge of disintegrating, I stopped my attempt at pushing some blood in there after a set on the Hamflexor standing one-legged curl with nearly no weight felt ridiculously heavy. Finished with some light stretching, but despite being warm all over I still could not convince my inner thighs to allow a full banana extension.

In between my sets of reverse hypers, I also bumped into the osteopath who mobilized my back in March. He asked me how my back had been. Deviously enough, he asked me because his trained eyes had spotted the problem as it entered the gym. Or perhaps he had just noted the limping left leg with the tired post-party eyes he off his lofty treadmill confessed having.