Week 13 Training Log - Eight Weeks Out

Two more three-week cycles, one de-load week, and one rest week until the spring bench press deadlift open.  Last week was encouraging, hitting PRs on all four lifts for singles - 350 squat, 275 then 285 bench, 445 deadlift and 175 overhead press.  Excited about getting close to a double body weight squat and getting close to a body weight overhead press, hopefully these are on the horizon.  Tweaking the program a little bit over the next few weeks to focus on deadlift and bench.  Will be switching out the good mornings for a variety of other squat/deadlift variations in the next couple cycles.

Bodyweight 180-181 all week.

Monday, March 23^rd

Squats

5 x 45

5 x 135

5 x 185

5 x 215

Working Sets

5 x 250

3 x 285

1 x 320

1 x 340

1 x 350 (PR)

Band Squats

5 x 135 + Light Bands

5 x 155 + Light Bands

3 x 3 x 175 + Light Bands

SS Yoke Bar Good Mornings

5 x 95

4 x 5 x 115

Tuesday, March 24^th

Bench

5 x 45

5 x 135

5 x 175

Working Sets

5 x 205

3 x 225

1 x 245

1 x 265

1 x 275 (PR)

1 x 285 (PR)

EliteFTS Shoulder Saver combo (1bd/2bd)

5 x 5@1bd/5@2bd @165

Chest Support Tbar Rows

5 x 45; 70; 90

3 x 125

4 x 3 x 135

Lat Pulldown drop set

190/160/130/100: 14; 8; 6; 9

Thursday, March 26^th

Deadlift

5 x 135

5 x 185

5 x 225

5 x 275

Working Sets

5 x 325

3 x 365

1 x 405

1 x 445 (PR)

Band Deadlift

3 x 3 x 135 + monster mini, light, average short bands

1 x 185 + average short bands

1 x 225 + average short bands

1 x 250 + average short bands

Friday, March 27th

Overhead Press

5 x 45

5 x 85

5 x 105

Working Sets

5 x 125

3 x 145

1 x 165

1 x 175 (PR)

1 x 185 (fail)

1 x 185 (fail)

Rest/pause @125: 12/3/2

Incline Fat Gripz Bench

5 x 115; 155

3 x 175

3 x 195

3 x 205

Dips: 5 sets

20; 15; 13; 10; 11

TBar Rows

5 x 45; 90; 135

3 x 160

3 x 170

3 x 180

Saturday, March 28
Lots of stretching, foam rolling, swiss ball abs, and seated calf raises

Week Twelve Training Log: 9 Weeks Out

Last week was a 3/3/3 rep scheme for the main lifts. On DL and Squat, I’ve continued to do burnouts on the heavy set to try to train endurance with heavy weights for the singles that I have to grind out.  I think that the rest/pauses are definitely helping with initial endurance (the first leg of the rest/pause has gone up) but I am still just about dead after the first burnout set – hopefully I’ll get more accustomed to these but, overall, they seem to be helping.  What I’ve seen aid improvement the most are band squats and the shoulder saver bench pad – I can feel the difference in squat and bench lockout.  Next week, I’ll test with some one rep max joker sets, but this week felt really good, especially since I have two more cycles before the push/pull in May.  Also hit a PR on band deadlifts (haven't done these in a while) at 250lbs plus elitefts average short bands (I had previously failed @225, so this was encouraging).

Monday, March 16^th 

Squats

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x 185

Working Sets

3 x 235

3 x 270

5 x 300

Light Band squats

5 x bar + bands

5 x 135 + bands

5 x 185 + bands

5 x 205 + bands

3 x 225 + bands

1 x 245 + bands

1 x 265 + bands

SS Yoke Bar Good Mornings

5 sets of 6 @115

Tuesday, March 17^th

Bench

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x 165

Working Sets

5 x 190 (was supposed to be 3 but I am a big dumb animal)

3 x 215

3 x 240

rest/pause @190: 15/3/1 (+4 on first leg of rest pause from last time)

EliteFTS Shoulder Saver Board Press

5 x 5 1 bd/5 2 bd @155

Lat pulldowns

5 x 20 (fat gripz +150 first four sets, fifth set kept fat gripz for first ten, then 4/4/2 with no fat gripz)...definitely huge jump from last week

Chest Support Tbar Rows

5 x 45; 70; 90

3 x 115

2 x 3 x 125

Thursday, March 19^th

Deadlift (Yesterday)

5 x 45; 135; 185; 225; 265

3 x 300

3 x 340

5 x 380

Band Deads

5 x 135 + monster mini; light; average (so three sets moving up band tension each set)

3 x 185 + average bands

1 x 225 + average bands

1 x 250 + average bands (Band PR)

Had to cut workout short (skip SS Yoke bar squats)

Friday, March 20th

5 x 45; 85; 105

3 x 125

3 x 140

3 x 155

rest/pause @125: 14/3/1

Incline bench + fat gripz

5 x 115; 135; 155

3 x 185

2 x (3 x 205)

Facepulls

5 x 20

T-Bar Rows

5 x 45; 90; 135

3 x 3 x 160

Saturday, March 21^st

Narrow Stance (conventional deadlift stance) SS Yoke Bar Squats

5 x 45; 135; 165

5 x 185

5 x 205

5 x 225

Abs

Standing band crunches/normal crunches

10 x monster mini short band/20 crunches

3 x 10 x light short band/20 crunches

10 x monster mini short band/20 crunches

Week 11 Training Log (10 weeks out)

Ten weeks until push/pull meet in Staunton (it was moved from April 11th to May 16th).  I'm using this time to add in a couple exercises with the SS Yoke Bar  as well as rest/pause sets on the bench and overhead press.  In addition, in order to build a bit more endurance with the heavier weights, on squats/deadlifts I am taking the third heavy set to failure/burnout.  In addition, I've changed template a little on bench and overhead press: main lift, variation of main lift, high rep sets of accessory 1, high weight sets of accessory 2.  After one week, I think this is going to get me in very good shape for the meet in May.

Monday, March 9

Squats

5 x 45; 95; 135; 175

5 x 215

5 x 250

8 x 285

Light Band Squats

5 x 45 +Band

5 x 135 + Band

3 x (5 x 185 + Band)

SSYoke Bar Good Mornings

5 x Bar

5 x 95

5 x (5 x 115)

Tuesday, March 10

Bench Press

5 x 45; 95; 135

5 x 175

5 x 205

5 x 230

Rest/Pause @175: 16/3/1

EliteFTS ShoulderSaver board presses 1 bd/2 bd

5 x 10 (5 1bd/ 5 2bd) @135

Lat Pulldowns

5 x 20 (150+fat gripz, 150, 140, 130, 120)

Chest Support TBar Rows

5 x 45; 70; 90

3 x (3 x 105)

Thursday, March 12

Deadlift

5 x 45; 135; 185; 240

Working Sets

5 x 280

5 x 320

4 x 360 - got fifth rep to knee but dropped...so if at first you don't succeed...

5 x 360

SS Yoke Bar Narrow Stance (conventional deadlift stance) Squats

5 x Bar, 95, 135

5 x 175

5 x 190

5 x 200

Low back extensions

5 x 15

Rope Cable Crunches

20; 40; 30; 20

Friday, March 13

Overhead Press

5 x 45; 80; 100

Working Sets

5 x 120

5 x 135

5 x 150

rest/pause @120: 12/3/1

Incline Bench w.Fat Gripz

5 x 115; 150

3 x 185; 195; 205

Facepulls

5 x 20

TBar Rows

10 x 45

5 x 90

5 x 135

3 x 3 x 160

Let's talk about #SECSOR: Five Thoughts

I attended the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR, #SECSOR, #SECSOR2015) Regional Meeting this past weekend in Nashville, TN.  It was great to catch up with colleagues and hear what they were working on, present a paper that I’d been putting together in bits and pieces over the past year of exams and prospectus, receive some helpful feedback and points of clarification, and drink beers in a Martin Luther-themed brewery (hello Black Abbey Brewery).  Rather than summarize the papers I heard or describe the beverages and food I consumed, I thought it would be good to list a few conversations that will stick with me as I continue to work on developing my teaching and research, so here are five thoughts that arose from conversations and papers:

 1)      The scholar and how “she” works.

• After my panel, my wife remarked that she noticed a colleague and I both consistently referred to a hypothetical scholar with third person feminine pronouns (she, her).  There are issues here where grammar intersects with feminist philosophy and a general wariness regarding the ways that language reinforces universalizing particular understandings of the world (if scholars are consistently referred to as “he”, “him”, etc. then we may come to think of this as a purely male role (same goes for many other titles and terms)).  Some issues that we raised in this post-panel discussion were summarized by another colleague who said “using ‘she’ and ‘her’ isn’t solving the problem, just shifting the emphasis.”  On the one hand, if I must use a singular pronoun, I tend to err on “her” side of the argument, but on the other, if gendered essentialism is the problem then I’m not really helping…this act can therefore be seen as a self-aggrandizing gesture that says “look how open-minded I am” while continuing to reinforce an either/or gender binary and an essentialist view of social roles.  We didn’t solve the problem (I still think using “his or her” is cumbersome...) in this discussion, but it is certainly, in my humblest of opinions, worth reflecting on.

2)      Economics and Religion, Materiality and Spirituality

• Another paper by a colleague examined zakat in early Islam as delineating moral boundaries by prescribing specific modes of being for both the tax payer and the alms receiver.  An attendant at the panel suggested that this focus on taxes reflects a broader emphasis on materiality and not spirituality and he wondered whether this pendulum would be swinging back the other way any time soon.  I suggested that the “either/or” might not be a good way to approach the “material/spiritual” divide and then I rambled for a minute…upon reflection, though, I think I was trying to emphasize the way that appeals to certain forms of authority (“religious”, “political”, “immaterial”) serve material interests.  In this way the two categories (or maybe discourses?) aren’t opposed but tend to work in concert in contests over various resources and group membership.

3)      Who are we giving voice to?  Should we be concerned?

• A third paper by an FSU colleague looked at Franklin Graham’s longstanding interactions with the Middle East in order to contextualize and examine remarks he made post-9/11 about Islam.  While I do think that these types of remarks and these types of social actors warrant analysis, the presider of this panel suggested that we consider who we are giving voice to in our work – certainly a move reminiscent of J.Z. Smith’s statement that the scholar’s choice of data must be examined.  Further, this follows Bruno Latour’s contention that social science should examine the processes by which objects become “matters of concern” rather than mere “matters of fact” (and, arguably, vice-versa as concern about these objects becomes naturalized or taken for granted.  In our field, then, we continue to give voice to some “religious” actors and, thereby, provide a growing body of knowledge about what constitutes our object of study, for better or for worse…certainly considering the effects of data selection is important but I tend to waffle on the ethical imperative of the scholar to evaluate her choice of data (there I go with the “her” again…

4)      What theories, methods, or schools of thought do we dismiss and are we rightfully doing so?

• Another paper by an FSU colleague…I guess I’m a company man, after all…examined what he considered to be the premature and problematic dismissal of phenomenological approaches to religion by certain scholars in the field.  While I don’t pretend to “speak phenomenology”, I do think that an orientation to the field grounded in the individual’s experience of the world can be helpful as, even in what are deemed “more theoretical” treatments of social groups, certain assumptions of how humans interact with the world are at play (Bourdieu/Durkheim and the idea that social groups reproduce existing structures seems to, at times, impose a motive on social actors, even if at the group level – the claim that actors wish to maintain or improve their material conditions…at the very least implies a relation to the world and an orientation to that relation and a goal…).  In addition to suggesting that there is something in phenomenology worth salvaging, this paper raised the issue, for me, of what approaches I am willing to dismiss or ignore (see: pragmatism, usually) and whether I have given them a fair shake (I *obviously* have, but, you know, the thought’s there).

5)      Taking the "objects of comparison" as data.

• In response to what may have been the most repetitive and hastily read papers (see: mine) a respondent suggested that it is, indeed, a good idea in comparative work to subject the objects of comparison to more sustained critique/examination.  In the field of comparative religious ethics, this shifts things a little bit – instead of comparing two visions of “the good life” in order to contrast differences, note similarities, and propose a way forward I find it more interesting to examine how different visions of “the good life” or “morality” reinforce particular modes of social arrangement and tend to universalize a particular mode of being – the idea that it is most ethical for a certain society to be “free”, for instance, tends to mask, mystify, or otherwise ignore the fact that not all actors in that society experience freedom to the same extent, if at all…so instead of examining what Islamic or Christian arguments about freedom reveal about the society or tradition, I’m more interested in what they assume or conceal - in a way, this is a very similar question that pops up when we ask what "connects" various "Islamic" or "Christian" or "spiritual" or "religious" ways of thinking, talking, and acting...

There were many other excellent papers and conversations over the course of the weekend, but these are five of the issues that stood out as I reflect on the weekend and how it impacts the ways that I continue researching, writing, and teaching.

Week Ten Training Log

Last week was a 5/3/1 week - usually I try to max on the big three lifts (squat, bench, deadlift) but I was presenting at a conference this past weekend (more on that in an upcoming blog post) so I missed my bench workout...This was probably a good time for forced rest as the push/pull meet I'm training for got moved back a month - essentially this means I'll do three cycles without a deload instead of just two, which should be fine as I'll take a week of rest after the May 16th meet as well.  This week I deadlifted 10 lbs more than I ever have (435) and increased my max squat by 15lbs (330)...maxes help locate where form breaks and what accessories I need to work on in order to keep improving.

Monday, March 2

Squats

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x 185

5 x 215

Working Sets

5 x 250

3 x 285

1 x 320

1 x 340 (fail – went too low and bottomed out)

1 x 330

Band Squats

5 x 175 + average band

2 x (3 x 175 + average band)

2 x (5 x 155 + average band)

Rope Cable Crunches

3 x 20

Tuesday, March 3

OHP (Today)

5 x 45

5 x 85

5 x 105

Working Sets

5 x 125

3 x 145

1 x 165 (fail)

1 x 165

10  x 125

Incline Bench + Fat Gripz

5 x 45; 95; 135; 165

3 x (3 x 185)

Hammer Strength behind-neck press machine

5 x 45s, 70, 80

3 x (3 x 90)

Lat Pull down

10 x 10 (first five + fat gripz, dropped weight 10lbs mid 7th set from 170 to 160)

Thursday March 5

Deadlift

5 x 45

5 x 135

5 x 225

5 x 275

Working Sets

5 x 325

3 x 365

1 x 410

1 x 435

1 x 440 (over knee but back started to round and I worried it was going to give out so I dropped it…will work on endurance with heavier weight)

Back extensions 5 x 10

Cable rope crunches 3 x 20

On Moral Facts and Opinions

Justin McBrayer, a Fort Lewis College professor of philosophy, has done what I dream of doing in a recent NYTimes Opinionator piece: take extended and public issue with my children’s homework.  However, my reasons for this lofty personal goal differ from Professor McBrayer’s: he seems genuinely concerned that his child is taught that there are not moral facts - facts can be tested and proven while what a person "feels, thinks, or believes" is an opinion (whether Professor McBrayer believes the school should be in the business of deciding what constitutes these moral facts – e.g. would marriage equality constitute a moral fact? Is the morality of capital punishment a moral fact? is unstated).  On the other hand, my desire to contest elementary school homework assignments stems primarily from long held authority issues…but I digress.

I’ll say two things about the piece as I’m hoping to keep this post brief: first I think assessing morality in terms of fact vs. opinion dangerously and irresponsibly shifts attention from the social, political, and legal structures that dictate which moral facts are enforceable and not enforceable.  Second, I find it to be a much more productive use of time to examine the structures within which some individuals are afforded the right to dictate which moral facts will be enforced as “fact” and which will not receive official recognition.  I would therefore like to an alternative binary through which to sort moral statements: hegemonic and anti-hegemonic.

Hegemonic ethics would be the “taken-for-granted” moral code of a particular group at a particular time whereas an anti-hegemonic ethics would be those moral codes that challenge the status quo or the “obviousness” of the hegemonic code.  Drawing on a Gramscian conception of hegemony, I think that a focus on the processes and maneuverings that are employed in the enforcement of a particular moral code or set of “good” and “bad” acts draws attention to inequalities within a social group with a particular moral vision.  In a way, this is what Professor McBrayer is doing – drawing attention to the role of the unequal power dynamics in his local elementary school (between parent/family/"private" and teacher/institution/"public" as moral authority) especially as it affects the particular social vision of his child.  We don’t need to look very far to find social theorists skeptical of the role of the school in producing a particular type of citizen (Foucault and Althusser come to mind, but certainly there are many others).

In closing, should I (hopefully) find myself in Professor McBrayer’s shoes one day, I will calmly explain to my daughter the difference between “enforceable” and “unenforceable” social norms, especially with regard to completing one’s homework, other school-related duties, and, overall, obeying the hegemon…I mean teacher.  I would further draw her attention to what theorist James Scott refers to as “offstage” sites of rebellion – that is, the subversive space outside of officially monitored spaces (the difference here is between the water cooler and the boss’ office or the prep line of kitchen and the restaurant dining room) that allow for freer expressions of dissent.  Then I'll probably write a blog about it.

Week Nine Training Log

A.) Last week was great considering that I was incapacitated the week before.  Early in the week legs, hops, and back felt rested, but by the end of the week I was spent.

B.) I may need to renumber these weeks as I had been counting up to a push/pull meet on April 11 which has been moved to a different date.  I'm actually glad it was pushed back so that I can get another cycle in and hopefully hit goals of a 275lb bench and a 430 lb deadlift at the meet.

C.) Rest/Pause sets - wanted to start these two weeks ago, but started them last week and they kill.  OHP and Bench - on the fourth set do a burnout set, wait 20 seconds and do another one, then wait 20 seconds and do another one.  These are awesome.

D.) Big gains - I started working out more consistently focusing on Squat, Bench, Deadlift, and OHP last April.  At that point, the first time I did a burnout set of squats I was able to do 12 reps of 175.  Last week I completed 15 reps at 235.  Turns out consistency pays off.

Completed workouts around 177-8 bodyweight.

Monday February 23

Squats

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x 175

5 x 205

Working Sets

3 x 235

3 x 270

3 x 300

15 x 235

Light Band Squats

5 x bands + 135; 155

3 x bands + 175; 195

1 x bands + 215; 235

10 x bands + 135; 135

Tuesday, February 24

Overhead Press

5 x 45; 95; 95

Working Sets

3 x 120

3 x 140

3 x 160

Rest/Pause set @120 x 10/4/2

Fat Gripz incline dumbbell press

5 x 50; 60

3 x (3 x 70)

Weighted Pullups

5 x BodyWeight

3 x BW + 25

3 x BW + 45

2 x BW + 70

2 x (1 x BW + 70 hold at top burnout)

Fat Gripz Wide Grip cable rows 3 x 10

Thursday, February 26

Deadlift

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x  185

5 x 225

5 x 265

Working Sets

3 x 305

3 x 345

3 x 385

12 x 305

Superset: Deficit Deadlifts/Sumo Deadlifts

5/5 x 225; 250; 225; 185; 135

Friday, February 27

Bench Press (6 AM workout, back fried from Dead supersets and overall tired)

5 x 45

5 x 95

5 x 135

5 x 165

Working Sets

3 x 190

3 x 215

2 x 240

Rest/Pause Set

190 x 11/3/1

Short Band Bench

Monster Mini bands x 10

Light bands x 10

Light bands + 75 x 9;7

Monster Mini Bands + 75 x 8;6

Chest Support T-Bar Rows

5 x 10