BEYOND STRONG: Shaf's Corner

The Twofold Path: 220 Raw Elite, Session 1

I've set some high goals for myself.  I decided, after my buddy Chuck Miller mentioned it, that I wasn't done powerlifting, and that it'd be pretty cool to both drop down into the 220 weight class and to total a raw elite according to the 100% Raw PL fed guidelines.  That would be 1551.

This takes care of two longstanding goals I've basically gotten nowhere with.

1.  To deadlift 600+ lbs.
2.  To lose some fat.

I don't think I'll attempt this unti the summer of 2010, so I've got a long time to plan and to put thing in place.  To start it off, I'm going to try out the Surovetskey deadlift program with a few mods of my own, mainly I am going to pull from a deficit the first DL session of the week.

Session1

Bodyweight:  263

Warm up:  Defranco Agile 8.

Deficit DLs: 4.25" deficit: (no belt but wearing Tommy Kono Waist Band -TKWB)
135x5
225x5
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x5

~ 2-3m rest in between sets.

I think this might be too large of a deficit for me to pull from. The arms and legs get in the way of each other. I'll wait until tomorrow, and see how I feel, to decide whether or not to continue
at this height, or even with the deficit DLs at all.

If I shift to more of a SLDL type movement, then the arms are fine, but I'm lacking leg drive. I'm not sure it really matters at this point. The SLDL type feels more comfortable, and the back feels like it's in the better position.  This was written kind of while I was training, so I ended up doing more of a SLDL style.  I lifted slowly and smoothly.

1A DB Row:

110x12/12
110x10/10

These suck after not doing them for a while.

Chins: Using green band
5, 5, 5

-not even going to comment. Chins are my biggest weakness. I don't think it's a bad idea to do chins after DLing for whatever small amount of spinal decompression it offers.

Arm and Ab work. (kb hammer curls + kb windmills, bb curls + hanging knee raises)

Whole workout was about 55 minutes long.  Done around 9 PM

Why YRG for lifters?

YRG = Yoga for Regular Guys (or Gals).  I've written about it before.  This is just a bit I wrote up for some people asking me about it. First off, why the hell should you do YRG? Flexibility work and non-impact cardio is the reason why I do it. If you follow the guidelines you will work up a very good sweat doing the longer programs, and your heart rate should fall right into the so-called "fat burning zone", often climbing higher when you first start. You also don't really need anything but water, a towel, and a place to lay down to do this stuff, so it's a nice option for a gym-free workout. I find the programs generally hit the areas that I need work on, flexiblity-wise. Old programs. The YRG book. Very good and inexpensive introduction with follow along pictures. This is almost just plain straight yoga with some calisthenics The first YRG "Strength" videos consisted of 3 programs. This is more of a flowing yoga, calisthenics with elements of dynamic resistance. DDP's patter in these are a bit raunchier, and the women tend to wear less clothing. 20 Minute - For most people this will get easy quickly. It is a nice little restorative session if you are sore from lifting, but most of the YRG programs will also do this. For the lifter, this does a good job of loosening up the shoulders, hips and lower back. This lets you get used to the deep lunge position that becomes a major part of the later programs. I have used this as a cool down for lifting sessions before. Fat Burner - This one starts to get harder. Longer duration holds of "broken table" or bird dog type movements can challenge the lower back of people not used to it. The longer duration slow push ups can also provide some challenge. Where most lifters will have trouble is during some of the reverse position yoga moves like reverse triangle, and reverse lunge triangle, because the shoulder girdle and hips are tight. This provides a much more thorough workout and flexibility program than the 20 minute session. The end of this workout stretches out the hips and piriformis pretty good. Fat Burner Plus - Longer duration holds. More focus on shoulder flexibilty with some of the "wrap and burn" positions. Longer duration push ups. Overall, this might be the hardest YRG workout available, with the exception of, maybe, the new "Double Black Diamond" The New Material. Page decided that the YRG material needed to be updated and decided he wanted to make an infomercial for it. The marketing for the new YRG Fitness System is quite hokey, but he really had some great testimonials for YRG with the transformation of Arthur Boorman from a grotequely fat, disabled cane-using veteran to a normal sized, strong, flexible person, so they took that and ran with it. Arthur's transformation is amazing. If you like shit like that, it's worth checking out just for inspiration. The new programs have some handy features. There is a timer in the corner of the screen that counts down, so you know how much longer you have to workout, and there are also reminders to check your heart rate monitor to keep in in the training zone. They are also significantly more "family-friendly", and normal people are used to film them, not models. Most of these will have Page performing a normal variation, with someone behind him performing an easier variant, and often someone else performing a hard variant. The YRG Fitness is a blend of yoga, some pilates type movements and there's some kind of Tai Bo stuff too. The YRG Fitness Basic Package: Diamond Dozen/Energy - this is useful in that it shows beginners the most common moves, and explains the who concept of 'dynamic resistance', which is basically flexing your muscles while doing the movements to raise the HR further and increase difficulty. Energy is a short workout, ~20 minutes long, that showcases the movements and introduces beginners to the program. Energy is a decent morning 'warm up' kind of sequence. Fat Burner - ~25 minutes long. This takes the place of the old Fat Burner. It's not as long, nor is it as hard. It relies on the use of a deep lunge to really ramp up the work and more broken table or bird dog work. You move more, so you tend to sweat more. You do see some different stuff than the old material. The Figure 4 or piriformis stretch reappears here. Below the Belt - ~30 min long. This is the next step up and for those who have a hard time in the squat, this will be more difficult than the Fat Burner. This uses a lot of quad, hip, and glute. There is a significant balancing portion of this. Broken airplane reappears here, which makes my glutes cramp up if I get after it. Diamond Cutter - ~50 min This is supposed to be one of DP's own workouts. This is not as hard as the old Fat Burner Plus, but is can provide a challenge. Longer push ups (10 seconds down, paused, up, paused, down) and more emphasis on the warrior poses. This is a faster pace than the old FB+ Red Hot Core - about 12 minutes long. Some challenging core work, and the people in the background are doing significantly harder variations than Page. Can be tacked onto the tail end of any other YRG workout in place of the "Going home" segment. Leg raises. If you need more core work, this will do the trick. The Extras: After you order the basic pack, you are offered some "extras". Strength Builder: ~35 minutes long. This is a very good mixture of moves designed to work on lower back, shoulder, hip and knee strength and flexiblity. This is really the spiritual replacement of the original Fat Burner. Stand Up: ~30 minutes. This is done entirely on your feet and it a whole lot of balancing. This is harder than it sounds, and does a good job of making you work up a sweat. Double Black Diamond ~70 minutes. This is the longest and supposedly hardest workout. Lots of movements that require previous practice and some that I had a very difficult time getting into. It's different enough from the old Fat Burner Plus that I had couldn't really tell which one was harder for me.

16-Nov

16-Nov-09

Agile8
8 cycles of 20s on/10s off of 2 footed jump rope.  Hit 2.5-3 jumps per second.

SSB Squats:
155x10
245x5
335x5, 5, 5

Supersetted with 2KB snatches
16kgx10, 10, 10

*HR~160-170 after each superset.  Rested about 2 min in between.

Foot-elevated split squats:  12R/12L, 12R/12L

*These burned that last set

Inverted Row on Rings:  10, 10, 10

Band TKEs:  2x20, hyv band