Miss Squatting, Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Been touring Asia for past couple weeks.
Not squatting and deadlifting leaves me feeling empty inside.

Anyway, this is an email I just wrote regarding Malcom Gladwell's "Blink" which I enjoyed a whole bunch.

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"Blink" by Malcom Gladwell.

Have you read it?
It was really popular a few years ago.

There's a section on subconscious bias, in particular how subconscious sexism hindered optimal music performance by professional orchestras.
The conductors and the rest of the interview panel were allegedly open to the idea of hiring women to play certain instruments, but a subconscious sexism caused them to believe they were worse than men. When a screen was put up and the judges gauged strictly performance, suddenly the same interview panels began to choose women over men.

In the absence of overt, conscious sexism, sexism remained a major dilemma.

To me this is fascinating.
Here's why (2 reasons):

1) With Rustici, and other free-marketers, you learn that the way to get over sexism (or any "ism") is to have a greedy entrepeneur. You need a baseball team owner who cares more about green than about white/black, and then you'll have Jackie Robinson playing in the major leagues and, voila, integration is done.

But, according to Blink, greed may not be enough. In an industry lacking the easy metrics of baseball, unconscious racism/sexism/whatever-ism would be even tougher to integrate.

2) Free-marketers (most notably Rand Paul) often express the view that racist hiring practices in a business may reflect not racism of the business owners, but instead racism of the community for which the business serves. It's not that the Cracker Barrel doesn't want to hire minorities, it's that Cracker Barrel customers don't want to be served by minorities, and Cracker Barrel is responding accordingly.

If we buy into the unconscious ism's of Blink however, THIS ISN'T NECESSARILY TRUE. A hiring manager could unconsciously express his own racism via his hiring policies, regardless of the lack of racism in the community, and regardless of the potential relative utility of the applicants.

So, if these things are possible, then government intervention, such as the Civil Rights Act, could potentially remove (to an extent) racism from the hiring practice while not hurting the profitability of companies. Government intervention could be beneficial, maybe even a Pareto optimum.

OWNED IT!!

Today's workout was a big deal.
B Squatting 335 for working sets is where I previously stalled out as a novice (seeking 3 sets of 5 reps).
Today I b squatted 335 for 5 SETS OF 5 REPS!
HUGE IMPROVEMENT!
Depth was also much deeper this time around. (Going ATG).

Today's workout was:
B Squat: 335 x 5s x 5r
Inc Bench: 192.5 x 3s x 5r
Bicep Curl: 90 x 5s x 10r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r

Notes for future:
-Reverse Hyper's getting easier. Ready to add some weight to it.


Tomorrow's workout (recovery day):
B Squat: 235 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 10r
MAX DEADLIFT (Seeking 480) + 5s x 2r @ 75%1RM

Recovery Day on Low Sleep

Got about 5 hours sleep last night.
My fault.

Made today's recovery day, which was supposed to be easy, a little tougher than I expected.
Today's workout was:

B Squat: 230 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 10r

Got it done, but the first few sets of squats were tough. Felt much better around set 6 and 7.

AWESOME LIFTING TODAY

Today's workout was:

B Squat: 332.5 x 5s x 5r (PR)
OHP: 152.5 x 3s x 5r (PR)
Bicep Curl: 90 x 5s x 10r


Until today my record for work sets for squats was 330 x 3s x 5r.
Today I hit 332 x 5s x 5r. Slightly more weight and A LOT more reps. Huge progress.

And to see my OH Press go up is thrilling as well. This is my weakest lift, so progress is always appreciated.

Tomorrows workout (recovery day) will be:

B Squat: 232.5 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 10r
Power Clean: 180 x 10s x 1r

Haven't done power cleans in a long time, so I want to ease back into it.
Last time, jumping too hard into snatches after a hiatus, I hurt my shoulder a little bit.

SQUATTING DOUBLE THE DAYS HAS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
I can't get over how right John Broz was about not needing so many rest days.

Video today is Rippetoe Explaining hip drive. (The most essential element of the squat).

Tomorrow's Workout (Oy ve)

Forced to take an extra rep day due to exam schedule.


Tomorrow's workout:

B Squat: 332.5 x 5s x 5r
OHP: 152.5 x 3s x 5r (second attempt at this weight)
Bicep Curl: 90 x 5s x 10r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r


Never squatted more than 335 for worksets before. Edging toward a brave new world.
:)

The goal

Here's a video of Donnie Blanks doing a 500lb deadlift.

I haven't decided if when I finally hit 500 I'll let out the badass "motherf*cker" exclamation Donnie does.

(Can you guys see the 2.5lb plates on the side? Is it possible Donnie is only deadlifting 495? Video quality makes it hard to tell).

Awesome Day

NEW DEADLIFT 1RM (one rep max).

470.

First time I deadlifted since hitting 450 a month or two ago.
Felt like I could to heavier, but going for multiple PR's the first day back is the story behind too many injuries.

Next recovery day I'll work power cleans.
Then, in a week, it's back for another DL. At which point I'll chase 480.

Today's workout was:
B Squat: 230 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 10r

Deadlift:
-135 x 3
-225 x 3
-315 x 2
-365 x 1
-405 x 1
-455 x 1 (New PR!)
-470 x 1 (Even Newer PR!)
-405 x 1
-405 x 1
-405 x 1
-405 x 1
-405 x 1

Stopped there. Didn't want to bring in heavy volume AND high weights first day back dead-lifting.

And the movie of the day:

(A plethora of female weight-lifters. The last lifter, at 1:01, OWNS IT)

It should be illegal . . .

to feel this awesome.
I don't know if it's the vitamins, the yogurt, getting my sleep, or what, but I feel fantastic.
Also, worth noting, ever since I've started working toward a Joe Broz schedule my squats have gotten a lot deeper. Every rep is way below parallel now, ass-to-grass (ATG).

Today's workout:

B Squat: 330 x 5s x 5r. (Went up EASY).
Inc Bench: 190 x 3s x 5r. (Last rep on 1st and 3rd set were a grind, but still felt
good).
Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 5s x 10r (no cheating on ANY rep).

I had planned to deadlift and reverse hyper as well, but it was time prohibitive. Those will be worked into tomorrow's recover workout, which will be:

B Squat: 230 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 10r
DL: 1RM followed by 10s x 2r of 85%1RM.

Going to start alternating deadlifts and snatches as last workout on recovery days.





VIDEO OF THE DAY:
This is Jacobi Jordan of Average Broz gymnasium.
A 600+ deadlift, while respectable, isn't unheard of.
So why did I post here.
Because this 600 lb deadlift is especially awesome.
This guy DOES NOT DEADLIFT. Only deadlifts 3-4 times a year.
What does he do?
Oly lifts every day.
Squats every day.
Low reps to tweak his CNS.
F*ckin' badass.

Return to Deadlifting (finally!)

Tomorrow's Goals:

B Squat: 330 x 5s x 5r
Inc Bench: 190 x 3s x 5r
Deadlift: 1RM x 1. 85%1RM x 10s x 2r.
Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 10s x 5r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r


Going to shoot for 470 in the Deadlift. But if I don't hit it, that's cool. The goal here is the volume. Watching the averagebroz videos (those guys train all their lifts in this style) is inspiring.

See below.

Light Workout

Since it was the day after a real lifting day, yesterday was a light lifting (recovery) day.

That meant:

B Squat: 225 x 10s x 5r
Pushups: 10s x 10r

Next real lifting day should be tomorrow.
Thinking about delaying it one day and going for a max DL tomorrow, just to gauge where I'm at.

327.5 felt easier this time

Tonight's workout:

B Squat: 327 x 5s x 5r (hit it)
OHP: 152.5 x 3s x 5r (missed it bad)
Standing Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 5s x 10r (crushed it)
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r (hit it, but what else can you do with unweighted reverse
hypers?)


The squat was solid.
Hitting 5x5 was easier than I remember the same weight at 3x5 being a few months ago.
This is the way it should be, but it's reaffirming nonetheless.

The OHP was a record attempt, and a failure. I'll go back down to 150 next time.


Tomorrow's workout (Recovery Day):
BS 225 x 10s x 5r
Pushup 10s x 5r
Deadlift: 315 x 4s x 5r (for speed)

And here's the imbedded weight-lifting video of the day.


Maybe I'll be as strong as this hot Russian blonde, Anja Jordalen.

Snatch that!

Did my day 2 routine today. Added a 1RM Snatch at the end.
Workout was:

B squat: 225 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 5r

1RM Snatch.

SNATCH IS RUSTY AS ALL F*CK!
Hit 145 without much trouble, then stalled at 150.
I think having the snatch on day-2 is a good idea. Will keep it there.
Need to ease back into it though, left shoulder felt rough later in the day.

Below is a clip of Marcien Dolega, Polish Olympican, snatching over 200 in practice.
Gets my hyped up.

Strong CNS, Weak Muscles

So we're almost 2 weeks into the John Broz protocol.
Today's workout I could feel some of the effects (which were weird).
Workout was:

B Squat: 325 x 5s x 5r
Inc Bench: 187.5 x 3s x 5r
Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 5s x 10r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 104

The effects from the John Broz levels of volume were weird.
I could feel my central nervous system (CNS) has strengthened, but my muscles were incredibly sore today form this past two weeks frequent squatting.

Being able to somehow lift more than you've ever lifted before while in such terrible shape is a tough thing to convey to a layperson and an arcane concept even to many weight lifters.

The working analogy I use is to look at weight-lifting as similar to horse racing. Just as horce racing depends on two important variables, the jockey and the horse, weightlifting depends on both the CNS and the muscles in much the same way.

A good jockey will convince his horse to run faster.
Similarly, a trained CNS will be able to get the muscles to move more weight.
Whereas the jockey uses a prod, the CNS uses electrical impulses.

Enough of that.

My bicep curls were sloppy, probably because I've been doing so many pushups lately. We'll see if they're better next week.

Upping Squat Routine Again

Read more John Broz tonight.
Awesome stuff.

link is http://www.fortified-iron.com/forum/index.php?s=8ef969e700276b63f99ebca959739b3e&showtopic=235183848&st=0

Need to take next step toward squatting every day.
As sore as I am right now, the third day needs squatting. To deal with soreness I'll have to lower the weight even more, probably to something like 185, for 5 sets of 10.

So the next three days squatting will look like this.

Saturday: Back Squat 325 x 5s x 5r (Tonnage = 7,875)
Sunday: Back Squat 225 x 10s x 5r (Tonnage = 11,250)
Monday: Back Squat 185 x 10s x 10r (Tonnage = 18,500)
Tuesday: off

Wednesday: Repeat

It's neat that the difficulty varies inversely with the tonnage.

Today's workout (SORE CALVES)

One thing I'm getting from all this squatting I didn't anticipate, sore calves!

The calves role in squatting is intense, but lots of people don't appreciate it because it's isometric.

Have also done 165 pushups in past 24 hours. For me, this is a lot.
My benching might be a little off, but it was required in order to win a bet.

Today, to follow up yesterday's workout, I did the same day 2 step to slowly implement the Broz protocol as last time.

It was

Back Squat: 225 x 10s x 5r
Pushup: 10s x 5r

2 weeks off from benching, then 250lb bench

BAM!

I'm taking 2 weeks off from benching.
Just going to do a sh*t ton of push-ups and weighted pushups, gtg style.

In 1.5-2 weeks I'll come back, perform one bench workout, then the following workout I'll push for a 250lb bench.

My bench is way too weak, whether considered by itself or relative to my other lifts.

I will achieve a 300lb bench by the end of the year.
Because it never hurts to review goals, my end of the year goals (which I think I'll accomplish by October) are:


Bench: 300lbs
Squat: 400lbs
Deadlift: 500lbs

John Broz, end of week 1

Did the 3rd workout in my new intro-level John Broz program.
Squatting 322.5 for 5x5 yesterday definitely felt more difficult than 317 a week ago.
But that's the way it's supposed to be. Still adjusting to the volume.

Yesterday I:
BS: 322.5 x 5s x 5r
OHP: 150 x 5s x 5r
Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 5s x 10r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r


Was very excited about the 150 OHP. That's a sort of bench mark. Anything from here is uncharted territory.

The bicep curls aren't all strict, still some body english on a few reps in the later sets. I won't move up in weight till I can eliminate the body english. I'm not really pushing higher weights right now, this is just for volume as an assistance exercise.

The reverse hypers aren't f*cking me up like they were in the beginning.

Today I'll do a workout of:
Back Squat: 225 x 10s x 5r

The goal of the workout obviously isn't to go heavy. It's just to, again, introduce more volume in the goal of reaching daily squatting a la John Broz.

John Broz, one bad dude

Starting slowly, very slowly, to incrementally approach John Broz's standard of squatting every day.

Had been squatting 2-3 times per week.
Now, after every lifting day, I'm following with a squatting day. I squat lighter on these days, but the volume is much higher. And it's the volume that's the goal on these days for now.

So, after my last workout, the next day I squatted 225lbs for 10s x 5r.

Broz's theory is that when the volume is high and you're hitting squats every day then squats become just second nature, just like walking.

Broz actually shoots for a PR EVERY WORKOUT!

I'll continue 5x5 for awhile, hopefully passing previous high of 335, before shooting for new maxes every workout.

After his 1RM (whatever the max is that day), Broz continues to do singles, doubles, or triples at 90% of the max. He stops when he has done 50 working reps.

Broz doesn't go a day without squatting 220kilos (440 lbs!).
His training philosophy blows my mind.

Good Lifting Today

Workout Today:
BS: 320 x 5s x 5r
Inc Bench: 185 x 3s x 5r
Bicep Curl: 87.5 x 5s x 5r
Reverse Hyper: 4s x 10r

Good lifting today.
Back squats went up real easy, especially on later sets with focus on explosion and intensity.
Incline Bench was tough, but grinded my way through.


Tomorrows the day I begin my first gradual implementation of John Broz's Bulgarian training style.
Even though tomorrow would not normally be a lifting day, I'm going to go back squat 135 x 5s x 10r.
The point isn't to move a whole lot of weight. The point is volume, insane volume. To begin squatting every day.

Maybe there's something to John Broz's style. Today, despite biceps being sore, I had more success with reps than last time when biceps were fresh. (Same weight, same rep/set scheme).

And if we're really going to implement Broz's style, should probably get to pushups every day as well.

Went Up So Easy

Lifted today.

B Squatting 317.5lb x 5s x 5r never felt so easy.

OHP 147.5 x 3s x 5r, hit every rep.

And reverse hypers (4s x 10r) were pleasant rather than soul-wrenching beatdowns.

Almost made my bicep curls (87.5 x 5s x 10r, but then had to cheat on last 2 reps of set 5.

Still, overall amazing.

This must be what steroids is like.

What explains the excellent form tonight?
A few potential causes come to mind.

-Been sleeping well.
-Switched to steak as primary source of protein.
-Reintroduced some carbs into my diet via pierogies.
-Been very happy lately.

Maybe it's one of, or some, or all of the above.
Or, maybe it's just something they put in the water.