Dear JL,

 

I hope you had a great weekend. I heard you were hanging out with “friends” drinking beers and floating down the river. I know this student - teacher love story is nothing new to many, but it’s new to me and going to take some getting used to.

 

The jealously I feel is like a heavy bench on my chest, and not a “future method bench”. I’m talking more like a triple average band sucking the breath our of me.

 

I will be ok, I always am. I hope you had fun.

 

yes, I Facebook stalk you.

rivershot

I keep sending you these messages online and you now know me more digitally than in person so I have been scanning the internet, books, magazines, and TV to find the perfect way to tell you how I feel the next time we meet.

It’s so easy to express my emotions with text but when I see you my body gets tight with blood, pain and falls limp.

 

After our last date things have been going well. I already sent you a letter on how Wednesday and Thursday went. Friday is a day off because…

 

Well, honestly, because, I am simply not that dedicated to train #beatmode everyday.

 

I know there are many who

#takenodaysoff

#norest

#nosleep

#gohardallthetime

 

...but I’m not one of them because I don’t want to work that hard. I have other shit to do like write you letters and watch Greys Anatomy on Netflix.

 

You're my McMeaty! 

 

Saturday started off with a BANG. This is my Max Effort bench day. I started off cleaning my driver making sure it wasn’t tight but loose, lubed and ready to go. Then I knocked off some light accessory shit nobody cares about and began the 30 minute process of setting up the reverse bands (aka, Future Method).

 

You may ask - actually no you won’t but others do. How much weight does the bar weight at the top and bottom with the bands. My answer (again) is I used reverse blue bands so the weight at the top and bottom was whatever is on the bar with reverse blue bands. People will spend HOURS trying to figure this shit out only to find whatever it come out to they still can’t fucking bench if it was all real weight.

 

Here is my super secrete when it comes to bands. If I am doing max effort work I set the shit up with the same exact bands, the same exact way every time I do it. This way if more weight is use - it is actually more than last time.

 

Really cool idea, don’t ya think?

 

I set the shit up the same way as last time. I have no idea what happened but the shit felt really light so I I didn’t say at the 8.5 and said fuck it. I am going to max out and see where I am. I worked up to 6 plates and a quarter per side. I honestly don’t care about the weight because for all I know the bands are taking 500 pounds of the weight off the bar but it was better - much better than last time.

 

After that I did Tsunami bar presses and a dumbbell complex and called it a day.

 

Ride the wave bitch

 

Sunday was Dynamic Squat work and I decided to see if I could get under a giant cambered bar and did! WTF! This adds one more movement back into the training mix I haven’t been able to do for years. I ended up using around 3 plates per side, Actually it was 2 plates, a quarter and dime per side with one chain hanging from the bar straight to the floor.

Yes, I tell everyone to NOT do this because there is very little to de-load and re-load onto the bar. My reason for the chain was it was the first time using this bar is 15 years and it does swing a lot. I could hold it but the swing was a tad too much for my shoulder right now so I wanted to ground the bar and learned my lesson from the bands a few weeks ago. By having one chain from the bar to floor it cuts down on about 1/2 of the swing better locking the bar in. This is also why I used the quarter and dime instead of a plate. The chain that was from the bar to floor was the extra ten pounds needs for this to be 3 plates per side. My goal, in time, is to not need to ground the bar but my shoulder is not there yet.  #this #B #thinkin'

 

I was really hoping to get one of those really cool squat bruises across my upper back that seems to be all in vogue on "the gram" these days. I couldn’t wait to get home and see it. Man, was I bummed out when it wasn’t there. I need to #goheavy or #gohome next time. I guess those back bruises have to be earned not given - or you just have to really suck at keeping your upper back tight, or not spend 3 decades squatting.

 

After that I did tsunami squats, this time for high reps and didn’t do that explosive stuff that about tore my hamstrings off a few weeks ago. Then hundreds of reps with ankle weights for leg curls, leg raises and knee raises.  #B #GPP'in
Some abs and done.

That wraps up another week of training as I don’t train on Mon or Tue with the exception of recovery work, restoration,rolling on shit, and eating sausage, gravy and biscuits.

 

I look forward to see you again Wednesday so I can look into your eyes and you bring me the pain. #bringDApain

 

Your always and forever

 

- Zippy

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