My training log and thoughts

 31.12.2020 Nice day. Didn't have anything to do. Had way too much coffee. Drummed a tiny bit. Overhead press Warmup 90*3 105*3 110 - 4 sets of 2 - volume PR :D 113*1 40 - 3 sets of 10 Had too much snacks, but stopped myself just in time. Sang a lot, especially to The Lord Of Steel (by Manowar, the Kings Of Metal). To me, The Lord Of Steel is very much an overhead pressing anthem. Lovely. Really enjoyed drumming. Working on my new song - so far I have three releases for Spire - 1. Steel Of My Spear - 2. Brothers Of War (rough mix demo) 3. Death On The Ice Lake (Farvann contest song) - I think I'll have to rerecord all the songs when I make enough material for an album. Rerecord, remix, master all of them evenly enough. Now I'm wroking on a song with a work title "Yggdrasil" - it'll probably have the most nonsensical lyrics so far, but should be fun. I really want to record live drums with it. So I theorized playable beats. Basically, I have a good old "bo...

 30.12.2020 Nice day. Deadlift 60*10 100*5 130*3 150*3 180*3 overhand 215 - 4 sets of 3 pretty easy, straps 222,8 for 1 rep - hook grip Stiff leg DL - 20 kg - 2 sets of 20 One leg curls - 7 kgs - 2 sets of 12 with no pause One leg high kicks - 2 sets of 10, no pause. Grip Warmed up with Vulcan Dynanometer - 70 kg left, 90 kg right Attempted Atomgripz 6 band with the right hand, deep set - was close. Left hand - Vulcan, something like 4-3 (Platinum spring) for 1 ok rep I do almost all my closes parralel. Then Vulcan 1-1 - each hand - 2 sets of 5 reps, wide set. I did a lot of drumming. Attempted some rather hard beats, did some practice. It was fun, but the hard beats didn't turn out too nice after I recorded them ☺ Random video of the day A vid of the cover band "Nightshift" from somewhere in Britain in 2007. Hope it's okay that I'm posting this here, in not - I'll delete it :) Found it quite randomly over here -  http://www.thepriors.idps.co.uk/the_band/green...

 28.12.2020 Not a very good day, to be honest. Something is messed up in my head and in my body. But it's not a big deal, because these things come and go, in waves. Just gotta be ready and healthy. I imagine evil, evil inside of you. Do you feel it? Don't lie to me now! You've let it in yourself, now it's your turn to suffer. Suffer and change, be something else, degrade or grow, struggle or die. You don't have a choice - something will happen. Bench Warmup 120*3 120*13 120*12 120*10 technique is not too good tbh, as per usual, but I feel satisfied. Perhaps at some point after I'm done increasing my pushpess I could devote more attention to bench press, once again. Press program is coming to an end soon, hopefully succesfully. Ring pullups 2 sets of 10 - floor supported 10 12 from the floor with legs raised - Nice. Check out the "Meme galore" post I made today, it's lovely, and it has some hidden meaning. Might be lost by the time you're readi...

 

 24.12.2020 Deadlift Warmup 208 - 5 sets of 4 - all paused on the floor 215*1 hook grip pretty hard, almost tore off a callus on my right hand, happy that I can do it after such a volume A lot of light dumbbell flys (not flies). Something else? Can't remember. Ah, wait, I did some grip - about 5 heavy singles with Vulcan gripper, I think I went to 4-4 on platinum string with my right hand, it's supposed to be slightly heavier that Cock#3, but much easier to set in your hand. (I did parallel closes.) Played a lot of bass, but not as much as on wednesday. 26.12.2020 My CNS is getting better. Had a great nap before a workout. Isn't awesome how you just have these absolutely awesome naps a couple times a year? I have a theory about that - if you feel tense or unhappy while awake, you mind might really try to help you get rid of that when you fall asleep. Probably doesn't work for everyone. Also made a sort of a music video for my last jam, and posted it on Spire channel. It...

 23.12.2020 Overhead press 60*12 80*5 90*3 103,1 - 2 sets of 3 103,1 - 2 sets of 2+1 - had to take a small break in both of these sets after failing a third rep. 110*1 easy enough I was really distracted, to be honest. My training has been super minimized recently - pretty much just the worksets and nothing else. I didn't breathe correctly on some sets, didn't have proper CNS warmup. My sleep has been quite messy. Lately I've been waking up before 4 am on some days, and waking up too late on some other days. And today specifically my CNS had to experience some slight addition pressure before the workout. But, thankfully, it wasn't too much. I think I should take showers more often, it feels like it really helps me stay relaxed overall. I also think I overstretched my left shoulder joint while sleeping - just putting my shoulder up, that lead to some pain. Gotta make sure to not do it anymore. That led to arm imbalance today, from what I cna gather. Diet is sort of poor ...

  Work title - Cavernous Melodic Doom Metal 21.12.2020 Nice day. Preserving energy. Had some coffe, but it didn't affect me too much. Squat 20*15 60*15 100*10 130*15 - nice. Knees feel okay. One handed overhand bar curl with my left hand - 20 kgs for 10 reps 😁 Did a lot of drumming, practicing, jamming. Then I turned this new jam into a song - work title " Cavernous Melodic Doom Metal", by Scroll Of a Champion. Also, behold - the album cover that I haven't used anywhere yet, but I did bay a lot for it. It's been a few months. I wanted to make it so I'd be able to release a first song that I made after my finger surgery. Perhaps I'll release it alongside it, when i record lyrics for this one. Because I liked it so much I wanted to give it a spirit - the vocals. Not tonight though. Perhaps I need to think on the lyrics more. The guitar and bass are both in D standart, but 1/8th of a tone sharper.                         RA...

 19.12.2020 Nice enough day. Saw a dream in which a flew around a lot, always love these dreams. Deadlift Warmup 180*6 - first two and a half reps were overhand 190 - 3 sets of 6 - all paused on the floor 215*1 with straps, couldn't do it with a hook grip. I wonder if it's because I cut off some of my calluses. Gotta do it if you don't want to tear them off. Also I think my new bar has much worse cnurling that my old bent bar. I wonder if there's a way to bend back my old bar. It's bent in a sort of a spiral shape. I feel like I have a rather coarse throat right now. A little bit worried. Perhaps I should stay away from masses of people for a while, since my immune system might be weakened or something. I heard men always have a weaker immune system than women. Why? It doesn't matter to me right now. Did a lot of drumming, a lot of 16th note on hihat beats, it was hard, but I think I improved something. I managed improve one of those beats where the bass drum is...

 16.12.2020 Not gonna lie - last time I got a little bit overboard with coffee, and, once again, overloaded my CNS. Today it was the same, but, thankfully, both times didn't go to the extreme. Overhead press Warmup 93 - 4 sets of 6 110*1 super easy, nice Thought about stopping, but decided to do some pushpress. Pushpress Warmup 110*1 130 - three fails. All the time I pushed it to lockout point, but couldn't lock it out. The problem was the fact that I was actually tired, and wearing wrong shoes on most attempts. I think I changed into my olympic shoes on the last attempt, and it was the most fruitful. Also - very important - I kept putting the bar all wrong onto my chest. I don't have an olympic bar. I should unrack it the same way I unrack it on overhead press (holding it in my hands above my shoulders), then I can lower it on them, if I have enough stretchiness that day. I was still pumped from overhead press, rather tight muscle. Also my laid back OH press technique does...

Death On The Ice Lake by Spire Spire & Scroll Of a Champion · Spire - Brothers Of War (rough Mix Demo)  14.12.2020 Deadlift Warmup 180*3 overhand - I wasn't locking out though tbh 208*1 straps 220 - 4 sets of 2 208*1 hook grip on second attempt, lifted but dropped. I think my grip got fatigued from increased volume. 221 is supposed to be 85%, I rounded it down to 220. Felt good, but now my midback is acting up a bit, I think i hurt it a tiny bit last time I tried to pushpress 142. And I feel like I should really be able to pushpress 150. Gotta take it slowly but disciplined. Since I sent my track to Farwann yesterday, I decided to upload my little "LP" with these three songs. Posted the links at the top of the post, rather than here at the bottom, so no one would have to necesarily read my stuff in case they want to just look at the song. AND I also posted my song that I've been working on since september, and I think I started writing this song in august or july...

 12.12.2020 Nice day. Coffee didn't affect me in a bad way. Had 140 something beans. Bench press 127,8 - 2 sets of 10 - nice, felt somewhat easy, but I bridged a lot. My setup, of course, is really different from a conventional bench, so the cheating is different as well. Put more accent on breath and diaphragm control today. Felt better. I don't need to exhale powerfully when I bench. I probably need to be more of a bouncy castle, the same way as I am on overhead press. 100 - 2 sets fo 10 - narrower grip Some bw squats, then 60 kgs for 20 - keep the blood flowing. Recorded a final verse for Farvann's challenge song, sent it to him some time later. Also drummed a bit, practicing that Manowar beat from Loki, the one with bass drum on 1 2  & 3 & 4. Recorded a jam - but, tbh, I was already tired, I think, or, perhaps, I'm even more unexperienced than I think, so it was really off the metronome. Perhaps I need to set up a more audible metronome for Cakewalk. But ...

 09.12.2020 Didn't have much to do today, so I accidentally slept most of the day, right up to the moment of when I had something to do. I was almost too late. Somehow I woke up without an alarm. Nice coincidence or a powerful biological clock? Started my session pretty late, once again. Had 150 beans of coffee - didn't feel like too much. Because of my accidental sleeping I dind't get to have any breakfast besides some milk, but yesterday I did have a powerful supper - shell-shaped pasta with zucchini and tomato sauce. The shape of the pasta gives it magical properties. Overhead press Warmup 90*3 100 - 2 sets of 3 - pretty easy, maybe a bit ugly 110 - 3 sets of 1 - super easy, much better looking 105 for 1 rep - really strict, nice I've never pressed 110 for so many reps on one session before. Feels amazing, even if it's nothing too significant. Bench press 60*20 60*30 + 25 after a break - feels good. So, today I was recording my vocals for the contest song during ...

 09.12.2020 Deadlift 215 - 3 sets of 3 207,8 - 1 failed rep with hook grip, really slapped my finger, then 1 good rep And that was it. I was recording the vocals for the contest song. I think I'm not going to keep anything I recorded today, but I did give myself some vocal guidance for the future - possibly tomorrow. There's little time left until 14th. I was generating a lot of popping in the mic - first I tried my condenser, then my dynamic. I should've tried the condenser with foam as well as the pop filter. Instead I went with my old option, but this time I didn't really control it too well, and blew a lot of air into the mic. Watched some old and new tutorials, tried to figure out reverb and delay - I like the kind of reverb that sounds like you're in the field, or at least you think it sounds like that - long, but not very loud. Oh my, I really want to rerecord everything. I posted my track in Farvann's discord today (only instrumental), so I might as well...

 07.12.2020 Nice day. Had two portions of 79 beans. I'm going to have to admit that they screwed me up in the head a little bit and I had to deal with some negative thoughts being amplified. I didn't do what I wanted today and had two times more coffee. Gotta try and fix it. In the end, however, everything went stable and my mood went back up rather high. Overhead press Warmup 90*3 102,8*3 103,1 - 2 sets of 3 107,8 for 1 - nice and strict, very explosive as well Push press 70 kgs - 6 sets, mostly singles Pushups 30 + 30 + 30 short breaks in between. Who would have thought that it's actually so easy to get a nice pump. It's sort of like a tiny revelation for me. Made sure to do them in an explosive manner, and witha  grip that's not too narrow. Joints didn't bother me, which is a huge plus. Wanted to record some vocals today, but realised that I actually don't have a good vocal melody to follow the guitars. Did some writing in Musescore. I need to come up wit...

06.12.2020 Very nice day. Had a run in with an overly playful dog in the afternoon - it was trying to eat / was playing with a wild kitten near my door. I kicked it out, but I also felt the urge to play with it. Curious. Deadlift Decided to warm up only with fours 70*4 110*4 150*4 180*4 decided to not bother myself with locking out - I mean, I deadlift in a conventional stance, and when the bar is way above my knees my torso is straight, so locking it out would be just a waste of energy and it'd be putting a lot of additional vertical pressure on my spine. I think I saw a video where Eddie Hall explained that he does the same, basically. 208 - 4 sets of 4 - super easy, second and fourth set were done touch and go, the pest paused on the floor. I made sure to be very slow on the negative portion of the lift when I was doing it touch n' go. Well, these notes are mostly for myself. I suspect that it might have become way too easy to DL due to the fact that I put the barbell on the...

03.12.2020 Nice thursday. Recorded some guitar parts for the song I mentioned yesterday. Now I have to compose a bit more, although it's supposed to be a repeating part. Need to think up some nice ideas to make the repeated part more fresh. Had 120 something beans of coffee. Decided to not do a heavy deadlift today, since I cramped my back on the last set of pushpress yesterday. Deadlift 50 - 3 sets of 15 Goodmornings 50 - 3 sets of 15 One leg curls 5 kg for 15 reps, then 7.5 kg for 15. I think I have to start increasing weights on this exercise again. Floor supported pullups on rings 10 20 20 + 20 20 with some breaks - pretty hard stuff. I love this exercise because you can keep pushing yourself further by helping with your legs. Lats and biceps are burning nicely. Then I did a tiny bit of bicep curls. Managed to do some drumming, really enjoyed it.

 02.12.2020 Nice day. Had to train very late in the evening. Spent the day watching the movie "Us" and recording my new song for Farvann's songwriting challenge - I do plan to make a whole proper song with lyrics, vocals and even a video clip made mostly of stock footage of nature. Farvann is firmly associated with black metal, but his channel isn't associated as firmly - his channel is more of an extreme metal comedy show, it's pretty great. Here's a short link to the challenge video -  video I've already written more than a half of the song, and recorded about a quarter of guitar parts. Let's hope I can meet the deadline. Had a lot of coffee today - didn't even count, which is actually quite alarming to me. First I had 150 beans, then about 80. Overhead press Warmup 100*4 - put the belt above my waist, a-la for pushpress and regretted it, but it really stiffened my torso and made the press a little too hard 100 - 3 sets of 4 - nice and easy, boun...