[theNuge]

Originally Posted by Standard

It does hurt though, had a small case of it earlier this year, it's really annoying.

You ain't kidding it's annoying. I just had some fluid in my ears which I'm guessing is the start of cauliflower ear and it's really distracting when you're rolling.

[Mumrik]

Originally Posted by Standard

It's the black belt of wrestling though.



It does hurt though, had a small case of it earlier this year, it's really annoying.

Sleeping on it sucks as well... I train almost purely no Gi, so I'm proud of my eternally white belt (lying somewhere in the closet), and I'd be fine with a white in wrestling as well if it meant I could keep my normal ears

[Mumrik]

Alright! Back in action:



SOHP: 5x5x138lbs./62.5kg. - getting close to my old pre-injury level here.

Light squats and goodmornings

DL: 5x5x309lbs. / 140kg. - This time I did it. My back felt sort of stiff and fragile most of the day but when I got to the DLs it felt solid and finishing my sets wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done... I'm still quite sure I let my back do far too much of the lifting. I've been reading up on technique but I still have some way to go.

Neutral grip pull-ups: 4x7 and 1x5 - Sadly my arms were done when I got to the last set. Slightly better form today - a bit less monkey business.



As for my ear - I ended up going to the ER to get it cut. The doctor didn't really have any experience with this kind of injury (wrestling is almost nonexistant in Denmark), so he ended up calling a specialist for advice. He made two cuts of round 1cm. each to drain the blood. LOTS of blood in that little ear. He made me sit and apply compression to the ear until the bleeding stopped, but I had to ask a nurse to get me more of the material my ear was wrapped in, 'cause my hands were getting quite bloody. Anyway! Took the gauze off yesterday and the ear is looking a bit better now. It won't reach quite its normal size, but it's better than before the cut.


I live in something that I think slightly resembles dorms in the US, and people around here keep commenting everytime I have some sort of injury... I'm getting quite an odd reputation

[Mumrik]

Today was one of those days in the gym that just pisses you off



BP: 5x5x204lbs./92.5kg. - I bloody failed on my fifth set!!! I couldn't lock out of on the last rep. and that doesn't make any sense. I usually have an easy time locking out no matter the weight, but I struggled with this one for 10-15 sec. with no success. I was bloody furious! I waited 5 minutes, mobilized some anger and blasted through a sixth set without much trouble, so I did what I came to do.

Squat: Pyramid to 265lbs./120kg. Failed. - Again I failed my last set! After rep 4 I could feel that I could do the last rep, but I somehow overdid it and went down too fast, bounced without getting my back with me and had to let it go on the rack. Again I was furious and cursed at myself. I waited 5 minutes and tried again, and this time I did the same shit on my third rep! 120kg. will be on the schedule again next week.

BOR: Pyramid to 198lbs./90kg. - no problems here.




I'm pissed about the squat. The last few weeks as the weight has been going up, I've been confronted with plenty of problems with my form:
1) I forget to clench
2) My bar position is too high and I really shouldn't be using the pussy pad.
3) I let my back do too much of the work - I tend to lift my body out of the hole without moving the bar much to start with, and then I end up using my back for much of the lifting. It's a bit too much of a good morning.

Especially 2 and 3 together bring me in trouble as I now find that I tend to be fighting for balance and form instead of just firing my muscles for the win. Sometimes I'll hit good form and I suddenly feel in balance and can just forget about all that and place all my attention on getting up. It's a problem that I don't feel comfortable with low bar positions, but I'll keep working on getting that thing lower - my center of gravity is a problem at this stage and it will only get worse as the weight gets heavier.
As for the pussy pad - I tend to train in a wifebeater or a rashguard and without the pad the contact hurts, burns and leaves my skin red and blue. What do you ogres do? Use a sweater? Grow enough hair on your backs to soften the touch?
Is a towel really better?



Too many frustrating experiences in the gym lately...


Maybe it was wrong of me to switch from 2.5kg. steps to 5kg. steps on my 100kg.+ lifts? I don't know...

[Mumrik]

I'm switching to the 3x3 phase from this week. In the past I've always gone 5x3, but this time I'll try to follow the "rules" a bit better, even though going from 75 work reps to 27 feels like cheating. It is my plan to work some shoulder rehab exercises into my training again now, and perhaps add a second day of neutral grip pull-ups.

BP: 3x132lbs./60kg., 3x171lbs./77.5kg., 3x209lbs./95kg.

Squat: 3x3x254lbs./115kg.

BOR: 3x3x198lbs./90kg.

Very manageable workout even though I felt a bit sick today (might have been a second day hangover). Nice to be done in less than 40 minutes including warmup.

[Mumrik]

Oh boy! This 3x3 stuff is quite fun
Fast and easy on the mind.

SOHP: 3x3x143lbs./65kg.

Light squats and good mornings

DL: 3x3x320lbs./145kg. - the first rep felt like I hardly had any weight on the bar. I just stood up with it in my hands. I must have accidentally hit good form

Neutral grip pull-ups: 3x7

I also started a few rehab exercises for my shoulder(s).




Pretty easy workout and I feared a couple of hours of volleyball in the garden was going to make me suffer through this

[Mumrik]

First week of 3x3 phase, third workout.


BP: 3x3x209lbs/95kg.

Squat: 3x132lbs/60kg, 3x198lbs/90kg, 3x265lbs/120kg.

BOR: 3x132lbs/60kg, 3x165lbs/75kg, 3x204lbs/92.5kg.

Neutral grip pull-ups: 3x8BW supersetted with
Barbell external rotation: 3x10x66lbs/30kg.

Ab wheel roll-out: 3x10


Working on form and control in the BP. I'm trying to start using an arch, but I feel a bit wobbly doing it.
I used to take care of a few core/ab exercises in the evening on lifting days, but I've been slacking far too much lately, so today I brought the wheel with me to the basement. A month or so ago I was at 3x25, so I'll just be working my way back carefully. I should get off my ass and get back to doing saxon sidebends too.

[Mumrik]

Second week of 3x3 phase, first workout.


I lifted both today and yesterday. I'd usually never do that, but I really wanted to get back to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I felt okay doing it.


BP: 3x132lbs/60kg, 3x176lbs/80kg and 3x215lbs/97.5kg. - easy as hell

Squat: 3x3x265lbs/120kg. - close to losing the second rep on the last set, but I regained control before I'd have had to drop it. It was the usual problem with getting the weight too far ahead.

BOR: 3x3x204lbs/92.5kg

[Standard]

Low reps are always fun untill you change back into higher rep ranges, alot of the guys i talk to at my gym are BBers and they are always 8 - 12 and low reps kill them, anytime i try anything near double digits it feels like i'm doing a marathon.

[Mumrik]

exactly... I've gotten so used to 5 and 3 that I hate going 8+ for rehab exercises and so on. As long as I stick to variations of Starr's 5x5 I get to fool around down here with 3-5, so I hope it keeps giving me results



So far I've been lucky enough to hit very close to my last 3rep set when testing my 5RM, so it looks like I might get another two lifts past biggish (for me) milestones in this cycle. BP past 100kg. and DL past 150kg. seem possible.