+1

Nice lift.

Thanks TE

10/24
bowling
247 197 255 = 699 aaaaaaaaaaaaaygtcvkjhgvcklsjbhdv;dskfjrnprlmyn'kfg dmnnfdnbteryjmnryumfyh

I threw a big four split in the 10th frame of the 2nd game and missed all four, then in the last game I struck in the 10th and threw a 5 - 10 split in the 11th, then hit the 5 pin for 699. ****. I must have left 7 or 8 10 pins tonight, and I blew one. I really could have had a massive series with a few breaks tonight. ****. I will get some 700s yet. ****. I should have had one tonight. ****.

Lol. You sound like me after every lifting session .

You'll get it. That first and 3rd game were monsters though imo. Very nice average!

Thanks... I'm happy with my best series and game of the year, but argh, so close and so many stupid little mistakes.

I think my avg will either be 207 or 208 after that, which I'm very happy with for now. I think if the one dude who has been subbing doesnt bowl enough games to qualify (you need 66 games I think), maybe I can win high avg this year. That dude is averaging ~239 or something ridiculous like that. He should be on the PBA tour.

Hey Cha, just wanted to say, I'm really glad to see you are recovering and getting back to moving the bar.

Thanks BPA

10/25

smr & mobility

I started week 1 of this: http://tsampa.org/training/scripts/n...rilepin_bench/

I based my work sets on 275 max for both regular and close grip. After benching the past two weeks regular grip with no spot and close grip with a spot, I'm pretty sure the liftoff helped a lot. Anyways....

bench press
55x12x2, 105x10, 145x5, 195x2, 235x1, 245x2x3

BB row
145x5, 165x5x2

DB floor press
30x8, 40x8x2
This felt super light and easy with the right hand (I'm pretty sure double that weight would have been easy), but it made my shoulder feel funny with the left hand and every rep was difficult. That's kind of weird because the bench pressing didnt bother it at all. I'm not 100% sure if that is a reason to not do these though. It might be a good rehab exercise for the left shoulder. I havent decided yet.

trap bar DL
180x10, 270x5, 360x3, 360 + 90 lbs chains x 4 x 2

giant set
chins
7 6

single leg reverse hyper
90x12x2

single arm cable overhead press
30x12, 35x12

You stopped having a list of 239712345041237 things prior to working out. Are you still doing them?

Injury-ish question: I've stayed away from blast strap fallouts because I'm afraid I'll do something horrific and my shoulder will pwn me again. Odds of it being bad for my shoulder (which doesn't bother me during lifts at all anymore)?

That's basically all the stuff I've always been doing. Its time consuming to type it all out and I didnt think anyone wanted to read all that. I do change things a little here & there, but do ~20 - 60 minutes of SMR and ~20 - 45 minutes of mobility and/or shoulder rehab/prehab before hitting the weights.

If I stay tight all over I dont have a problem with my shoulder when I do them. That doesnt mean you wont. I'm the only person who has worked out in my basement who can do them properly. Its a pretty hard exercise to do right.

My advice - if you want to try them, go ahead, but be prepared to let go and fall on the floor if you feel any shoulder or low back pain. There should be no discomfort in the low back at all if you're able to do these right. I can also see how someone could mess up a shoulder trying to do them. Just do rollouts until they arent difficult (lol yeah right) if you have any injury concerns about fallouts.

Didn't I do ~1/2 of a blast strap fallout correctly? I'm gonna just say I got close to doing 1 rep correctly and then we decided it was better if I went to the "kiddie" side of the gym for the rest of that sesh.

Lets just say you (and some of my other friends who have attempted them) aren't ready to do those as part of a program yet.

I echo this. Great work Cha!

Sounds like good advice, re: let go if pain. I don't think I'd have a problem doing any since I can do about 11-12 rollouts now. Rollouts just killed my triceps when I was doing all the GTG stuff, but should prob be ok now that I've cut back a ton on that.

Thanks TE!

One more thought on this - try to keep your shoulders packed down and in like they should be when you bench. Dont let them roll forward and try not to use your upper traps for stabilization - use the lower traps.

10/28

smr & mobility

close grip bench press
55x10x2, 105x10, 145x5, 195x3, 225x3x5

1 arm cable row
105x10, 125x10x3

floor press
195+ 45 lbs chains x 4 x 3

chins
8 7

superset
lying tricep extensions
85x8x2

face pulls
85x15x2

box squats - 14"
55x10, 145x5, 195x3, 195 + 90 lbs chains x 5 x 2

1 leg reverse hypers
90x12x2

banded jacknifes (G4S style)
12 12
The set up for these is way better than with the band hanging from the top of the rack, but the movement is way harder, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

10/31
bowling
227 206 255 = 688
bah, I had another chance for a 700 into the 10th frame this week. I needed XX9 to hit 700. I struck in the 10th, but blew the 11th. I didn't know what I needed for the 700 going into that frame. Maybe I should have looked. Oh well - I cant be disappointed with 699 & 688 back to back.

For league high avg, I think I was in 5th or 6th place at ~207.67 to start tonight, less than a pin behind one guy and less than a pin ahead of another. I think I'm ~210 after tonight. The leader is ~217 - he bowled on the team we faced tonight.

I love my new ball and I love the shot at this house. I see no reason why I cant crush my all time (previous) best avg of 208 this year.

We bowl in a 30 point league - 1 point for beating your man each game, 4 points for team game and 3 points for team series. My guy bowled 690 & we have the same average (so same handicap), but I beat him 2/3 games - he had 251 the last game - I smoked him, lol. To start the night, our team was in 3rd place, 13 points behind the 1st place team, who we bowled against tonight. We took 22/30 - woot - we're now 1 point ahead of them. I'm not sure how the 2nd place team did, but we're definitely in the top 2 going into the last week of the third.

I just made a spreadsheet to track my avg.

Avg for the year: 210.04 (27 games)

Avg with new ball: 219.5 (12 games)

I love my new ball

You are a huge beast!

Thanks Yugo!

This bowling heater is making me think about possibly bowling in more leagues and/or some tourneys.

A few years ago I had gradually lost interest in bowling because of my team's breakup (everyone lived 30 - 90 minutes away from the bowling alley, so they all quit). Then on the new teams I started to bowl like **** and I hurt all the time when I bowled due to muscle adhesions everywhere - my averages for ~10 years straight were ~195 - 200 while my body was getting into bad shape, then when everything started really breaking down - my last season ~4-5 years ago, I averaged 174. The year after that, and for a couple more years before I discovered SMR & ART I hurt so bad all the time, I didnt even want to bowl at all.

Now I feel great when I bowl, and every shot I have great (relatively for me) control because I dont have sharp pains all over when I'm throwing the ball anymore. That, along with the rust coming off (30+ games under my belt including practice), the new ball and the good shot at the place I'm bowling at, makes me think the heater is sustainable. If it is, I should definitely bowl more.

an email I got from Andy Bolton today (I'm on his email list):

Crazy subject line, eh!

But their is a reason behind it - so read on and
I'll explain (it'll be well worth your while if you
want to get STRONGER on your squats and
deadlifts and KEEP YOUR LOWER BACK
HEALTHY)...

----------------------------------------------

The "Evil" Russian

----------------------------------------------

Recently I've been making friends with Pavel
"The Evil Russian" Tsatsouline and I've just got
back from the USA having spent a few days
there hanging out with him.

We had a great time - sharing stories about
strength training and joking around.

Pavel was extremely interested in learning about
how I trained for my biggest squats and deadlifts.

And I was amazed by the many tips and techniques
Pavel shared with me about training.

This guy might be only 180 lbs, but please believe me
when I tell you that he has one of the strongest
mid-sections I have ever seen.

For proof of that fact, check this out...

We were swinging the 48kg Kettlebell, which he
calls THE BEAST (try if for yourself and you will
see why) and I could not swing it as explosively
as him - inspite of my clear strength advantage
on squats and deadlifts.

Clearly Pavel has some great tricks up his sleeve
for the strength and power athlete.

I'll tell you more stories another time.

For now, let me share with you some of Pavel's
wisdom...

---------------------------------------------------

A Stretch That You Must Do For A Healthy
Lower Back And Big Squats And Deadlifts

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sore lower back muscles come with the territory
if you are serious about your strength training.

And whilst some muscular soreness is inevitable and
ok - BACK PAIN IS NOT.

Pavel explained to me that many people these
days spend too much time sitting down and
it makes their HIP FLEXORS too tight.

A lot of squatting and deadlifting doesn't help and
further tightens the hip flexors.

Now consider the following fact:

Tight hip flexors are a quick road to a sore
lower back

So it makes sense to stretch them, right?

Here is what I learnt from Pavel about stretching
the hip flexors:

- Stretch your hip flexors AFTER your squats but
before your deadlifts

- The standard kneeling hip flexor stretch is fine but
this is the one Pavel shared with me and it's way
better.

Here it is...

------------------------------------------------------

Pavel's Hip Flexor Stretch For Serious Strength
Athletes

-----------------------------------------------------------------

- Kneel on the floor (put a soft pad under your
knees and keep them hip-width apart)

- Then lift your right knee up and put
your right foot flat on the floor, 2 to 3
feet in front of your left knee (which is still on
the floor)

- Keep your torso upright throughout (think
chest out and shoulders back)

- Tense your left glute and slowly drive your
right knee forwards, keeping it tracking your
right big toe

- When you feel the stretch in your left hip
flexor and you cannot go any further; exhale
and release the tension in your left glute - you
will sink a little deeper

- Tense your left glute again and return to
the start position

- Repeat for 8 to 10 reps

If you are really tight do 3 sets.

Otherwise 1 set should suffice each time you
train.

If you want a bigger squat and deadlift you
need to keep your lower back healthy.

Stretching your hip flexors using this stretch
that I learnt from Pavel will help you to do
this.

Start using it in your training the very next
time you hit the gym - or else!


Talk to you soon,

Andy Bolton

P.S This hip flexor stretch may take you
two or three attempts to master. But it
is worth your time. Believe me and try it
for yourself.

Good luck and stay strong my friend.

I am going to try that stretch rather than the static quad stretch I've been doing. I did it tonight and I think it could be more effective, especially in the long run.

11/1

smr & mobility

bench press
55x10x2, 145x10, 195x3, 220x3x4, 220x8 (this last set was also supposed to be 3 reps according to my program, but that was so easy that I figured I'd push myself a bit harder - I left at least 1 rep, probably 2 in the tank)
Left shoulder is very good as long as I roll the **** out of my left pecs.

1 arm cable row
105x10, 125x10, 140x10

lying tricep extensions
85x10x3

face pulls
85x15, 95x12, 105x12

standing PNF D2 flexion
30x10x3

single arm DB OHP
25x10x3
This felt so light with the right arm it was like doing nothing. It felt uncomfortable with the left shoulder. It was better the 2nd & 3rd sets after rolling my left pecs more.

banded jacknifes (G4S style), hands on dumbells to protect right wrist which is flaring up
12 15

Awesome work on the bowling Cha!! Huge improvement dang. Also forgot to mention this before but your gym is unreal, super jealous.

how are you liking the bench program so far?

Thanks sippin!

Well, I just deviated from the plan tonight because the prescribed sets/reps seemed way too easy. I do stuff like that sometimes.

I'm going to stick with the general plan and do some 5/3/1 style adjusting if I get to the last set with a lot left in the tank. I'm sure it will work if I do that.