I don’t get WTF is up w/ my squat form. I’m going to bag the feet alignment I’ve been doing (\ /) in favor of what I was doing originally (I I). I was concerned w/ lateral stress on the knee, but I’m wiggling now, plus I’m going farther over my toes than I like. Seems so damn simple but I haven’t found a groove. I had determined to go back to parallel but that felt odd too. I know I can find the right form, I’ll work on it till I get it right. SQ felt quite strong till I got out of the groove and cut it short(again :mad: ). I’ll watch some clips and get it back. I should have saved the clip of Chakarov.
Throwing went OK, just SPP till I get my new clubs which should be soon.
Oh, yeah – added presses to the mix. Since I don’t remember what my PR in overhead press is, I’ll claim today’s best as one. With PRs every week it should keep me motivated. :rolleyes:
I am so sick of juggling. As soon as I get 6 in the can I may not ever throw again.
Every time I practice I am confronted w/ my inadequacy. I feel like I’m trying something I just can’t do. Had I not already done enough to convince me that it is possible for me, it would feel totally futile. Many/most of you are good athletes, so I don’t expect anyone can understand that it just sucks to be the worst athlete on the field, as I have always been, and the slowest to pick up any skill. Every practice is a dual battle: with the practice of skill, and the battle to not get pissed off and supremely frustrated. I lost that battle today. It feels like I’m 6 yrs old again and all the other kids can do everything in gym and I can’t do anything. All jugglers learn way faster than me, I’ve always seen the looks and eyerolling when I try to practice, like who does this guy think he’s kidding.
But when I get 6 on tape, then that will have been something. I will never get any respect since I’ll never get an elite performance, but at least I won’t have completely sucked. Like getting to play junk minutes in college, hell, at least you played college ball. 6 will get me, not respect, but at least I won’t be ashamed of myself when someone asks what my best move was.
Weights were just 5x5 w/ the good ol’ squat style. I put off bench till tomorrow so I can have a good pumped vibe for the party (OK, I admit I’m pathetic).
Self esteme, man… Postive attitude is really hard to keep. I’ve been running 5-7th man on our varsity team this entire year, and it’s very frustrating. My training just isn’t matching my racing, and our team is suffering. Juggler, guy keep your head up, we’re not all “good” athletes, and more importantly, we are not, hell no one is, a good athlete all the time. Stay focused even if you hate it. What’s life without a struggle, eh? It’s just life.
6? Hell, if I am lucky I get 3 tennis balls for 10 times through. We practiced this for 2 weeks in one of my classes and it took me that long to get it (barely). I can’t imagine doing 6 of anything, geez.
The reasons are in the first post of this journal.
Today’s practice was okay. I had to lift first since there were kids in the gym so I was gassed and didn’t have much of a fine touch, but I still equalled my best w/ 4 trips. It was kind of weird, I usually psyche myself out when I’m doing a good run, so this time I imagined that I was imagining it. :rolleyes: What the hell, it worked. The tough part about juggling is you need the right mix of focus, taughtness, and smoothness. Getting heated up enough to have power without losing the touch is tricky, or at least I haven’t gotten it down yet.
I got myself into being too nocturnal due to working hard late into the night this week putting up the website. I built it in IE, then found it’s frelled in Firefox so I have to fix that without screwing up the way it loads in IE. Grrr.
Will work on that tonight, then start marketing it this week.
No real practice today due to blah blah blah . . .doesn’t matter if you have a good excuse, either progress was made or it wasn’t.
My knee bothered me some still on my 4th work set, that’s been kind of the pattern, not sure if I’m losing form or it’s still a little tender from the whatever the hell I did, but I at least got the main work sets in, then did rack pulls. I’m halfway thinking that I should just do those for now till my back strength increases; as it is now it feels like most of the ROM is wasted effort in the DL since what I can handle for the full rep isn’t challenging enough. These were about 8 inches of the floor; I’m going to adjust the pins next time to make them maybe 6 in.
Benching today, didn’t do back due to rack pulls yesterday. 2 solid work sets then did some light sets since my quality was spent. Got 2 solid 5 reppers in though, so I can set a new PR if I want next time in. I think I’ll hold off on that though, since I’m still getting used to benching w/ a narrow grip. So I’m actually stronger than I was when I last tested my max.
Didn’t throw yet, will do that at my friend’s house (cat sitting).
Missed a few days due to the gym being closed, plus the cat sitting assignment screwed me up some. Back on it, felt quick today but was all over the place, way off in almost everything (Righthanded 3/1 for 7c). Unclear if this was related to using light squats for warmup. The squats did give me a better warmup so I’ll keep doing that unless it seems to be a problem.
Weights were odd, felt capable of more weight in work set squatting but had no stamina. May be due to being soft as hell the last few days. I want to move towards a 1RM in bench to stimulate recruitment and promote, well, pop. I don’t have any snap and I think moving towards a 1RM for a bit may help, plus I want to peak if possible to get at least a flash ready in case The Man invites me to train, which he’s been dangling since forever. He invited me to see him try a WR, so I’ll shore that up tomorrow and work towards something to show him. A flash would at least give me some credibility.
Callisthenics or even light weight work can be a great warm-up if you are not already doing it. I prefer hurdle mobility in my brief experience, but have found good results in the weights with other general warm-ups like you do. Keep up the good work and the PR’s will come to you. For some reason, it seems like PR’s are in a drought then they all come blazing to a peak after weeks or months or hard work. Keep it up–we are reading.
In that case I’d better work more and whine less!
Today’s practice wasn’t much at all. I did get some decent attempts in at some stuff (3/1, 4 trips) but except for 3/1 the rest is basically maintenence of dynamic juggling fitness and not steps to 6. The Man says that endurance with a lower number has jack to do with the higher number so I’m already where 4 trips is just staying dynamic. Which is important since 6=drop, repeat till too gassed or frustrated to continue. I’ve started trying to do 5 in a 6 pattern which should have a carryover, or at least get me over some problems. Synch fountain is probably what’s going to get me there but I’ll do some asynch work as well, it should help some and who knows, may be the way to do it. I also realized that I might be throwing too high. Will borrow a camera or buy one if it’s cheap enough to check this.
Benching was kind of blah, felt weak as hell but gutted out some sets, 1x5 then 2x3.
In the good news dept. my new futon came so hopefully sleep quality will improve. Now to focus on not staying up till all hours in front of the comp. I watched 4 hours of The Shield yesterday which wasn’t right. Self-discipline is something I continually struggle with, esp. since I often feel a powerful urge to say screw it. Not the way to go. To get up the mountain you have to stay on the path.
My old stuff has been off time a little, which is sometimes a sign of progress as you get faster and get used to the faster pattern. 4 trips was lower and faster today, which is a sign that I’m getting it down. Which in itself doesn’t mean much, except that 3/1 may follow. 5 felt ready for a breakthrough, it was nice and automatic, a good sign.
Holy crap did I need bumpers on the bar today. No more OHP without em for me. Hit a PR, , but lost the groove out front on the next set and had the hardest time lowering the bar without hurting myself. I’ll make do with seated OHP for now. Planned to do heavy deads but just did a few light ones after that to make sure my back ain’t hurt before I push it.
Thought I was warmed up enough for juggling but wasn’t. I wasn’t caffeinated today which may have been the difference. Nothing special today juggling-wise but:
I knew I was ready for a PR in SQ and got it today, fully back strengthwise from that stupid strain or whatever it was. Solid 4 reps then another set of 3 with my max weight ever. Then bench. I didn’t waste energy this time with reps with low weight, just a light set of 5, one rep with more, then 4 solid reps with 10 lbs. over my best triple. This also is my max ever.
So 300 is in my sights, don’t know how long but it’s there. I’ll video it when I do in case anyone wants to see it. Same for 6 clubs, of course.
Was empty yesterday from the PRs in both SQ and BP Saturday, should have taken the day off completely, as is I did just a little. Today I had way too much caffeine since the store had the stuff I like on sale again I forgot how strong it is. However, it was the opposite of Saturday, since today I had power but no accuracy. Was feeling way bummed since I had no enthusiasm to start and then couldn’t do anything. I’m wondering if I should get numbers clubs, which should make 6 easier, but cost $$. OTOH, I don’t want to keep flogging 6 if I ain’t getting there. I’ll keep at it for a few weeks while I think it over.
Lifting was just rack pulls(and chinning). Didn’t do that much since I’m still kind of uuggghhhh from the aftermath of Sat.
Had a discussion with another juggler last night and I theorized, for reasons I’m too tired to go into, that going straight to 4 clubs in one hand may be the way to go, rather than trying to perfect 3 first. So I tried it today, and not only got them all out but caught the first one, which The Man says shows you have the speed to possibly flash it. So 4/1 is now on the list. I also realized that “warmup” isn’t the way to think of it. For numbers, I have to be hot.
After the attempts at 4/1, I went to 5 in a 6 pattern, hereafter referred to as 5(6, and it seemed way more doable. So I still don’t have the preparation down, but I’m starting to get the picture. I was too speedy and amped for 5 regular, but I’ll figure it out. 5 isn’t that important, I mean it would help, and I want it, but it’s not the priority. Now 4/1 is. I think it will help a lot for 3/1, and making 5(6 happen.
After all that, I felt strong warming up for bench, so I went for and got a PR 245. I know it sounds dumb to say that 300 is close, but I really think it is. I’m far away but close, you know what I mean? like walking 4 miles, yeah it’ll take time but keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll get there. I was so stoked I tried 265 for the hell of it, but couldn’t fire at all, I was cooked and still am 4 hrs. later, although I’m starting to feel alive.
I always enjoyed watching a skilled juggler perform at the competitive level. Self taught one day while working at a tennis club one hot summer afternoon bored as all hell. 3 balls is all I’ve mastered, and 2 in one hand. Ask someone to juggIe, few can most can’t, I believe it helps challenge athletes. Also, hand eye coordination never hurt anyone and it will certainly make you focus on the task at hand.
I know I can find the right form, I’ll work on it till I get it right. SQ felt quite strong till I got out of the groove and cut it short(again :mad: ). I’ll watch some clips and get it back. I should have saved the clip of Chakarov.
With PRs every week it should keep me motivated. :rolleyes:
So the SPP wasn’t a waste 
