Concurrent Strength & Endurance Training 2016: Cycle II

Assessment of last cycle: sucked
Goals for this cycle: not suck

Seriously, I will experiment with first-thing-in-the-morning exercise, as I'm semi-convinced this is the only way I will ever get after it on a consistent basis. I will probably start with a simple 3x5 scheme, and set semi-challenging loads for the six main lifts, work up to the point where I can complete five reps per set, and then begin microloading, adding in some rep-count variation as needed.

---------------Week 1: Cycle II---------------

Sunday, 16.02.28
Monday, 16.02.29
Tuesday, 16.03.01
Wednesday, 16.03.02

Thursday, 16.03.03
AM
Bike Commuting
3.3 miles

Lifting
Finally made my way back to Anytime Fitness, at 4am. Just primed the six lifts. I'll try to add a bit next time, hopefully tomorrow. It's going to take a while to transition to early morning lifting, but I know it's the way to go long-term. Just have to make the short-term adjustments, mostly psychological.

Tried the assisted pullup contraption for the first time. I liked it a lot better than pulldowns or assisted pullups with bands. I think the weight was set at 70, which, given a body weight of 245, means I was lifting 175, right? That seems right. It felt like about 175 on a pulldown. It's pretty cool. I'll just keep dropping weight until I can do it unassisted. With the pulldowns, right around 200 pounds, I start to rise up, and my form becomes fetal. With the assisted pullup machine, my form felt pretty natural (the arc of resistance or whatever it's called seemed close to a real pullup), and there was possibly less stress on the shoulder and elbows.

PM
Bike Commuting
One mile.

Friday, 16.03.04
Saturday, 16.03.05

---------------Week 2: Cycle II---------------
Sunday, 16.03.06
AM
Lifting
More priming. Got the squat up to 2/2/2 @ 185 and did one rep of 135 for the clean-press. Then just dicking around with the RDLs, assisted pullup, 2DB Bench Press and 1DB Row, almost doing them as circuit training, which then occurred to me might be a good way to warm up first thing.

I debated hitting the gym while on the shitter, then realized if I don't get on top of this early morning routine pretty soon it's going to get harder and harder to get back into shape. Just have to suck it up for a week or two until I adapt and make it non-negotiable. It's too easy to find excuses first thing in the morning. So I went. My lower back felt pretty crunchy, so I rowed for five minutes after my first empty bar warmup squat set. That helped a bit, but I think I'll need to go in pretty much everyday to speed up the adaptation process. Might have to think about some kind of split.

Since the gym is on my prime bike route, maybe I'll try to combine biking and lifting into a single daily routine. 45-50 minutes of cycling a day would probably take the weight off quickly.

Anyway feeling great afterwards, just have to summon the mental fortitude to do something, anything, again tomorrow morning.

Monday, 16.03.07
AM
Lifting
Squat: 2/2 @ 225
Clean-Press: 1/2 @ 135
Assisted Pullup: 3 @ -60, 3/3 @ -40

Well, managed two days in a row. At least until I'm back in decent shape, I will probably work off of a split routine. That could be sustainable on a daily basis. So one day Squat/Press/Pullup, one day Deadlift/Bench/Row. I think the secret to a first-thing-in-the-morning routine is to do it everyday.

Everything felt a little better today than yesterday, but my lower back still feels a little stiff and unstable at 4am, so I'm going to continue to take things slow and just get everything primed and habituated to the early morning schedule. Assisted Pullups felt almost like real ones at -40 pounds. I'm about 245 still, so I was doing a pullup at a bodyweight of about 205 with the 40 pound assist. This will probably be my base and then I'll work on reducing the assist in five-pound increments.

I really like how good I feel afterwards. It really sets up the rest of the day quite nicely. Only problem is the afternoon drowsiness. Yesterday I was fighting sleep from 1-3pm before I got my second wind. I hope that improves as I adapt to the early morning schedule.

Tuesday, 16.03.08
Slept in until 6am. By the time I got to the gym, the little parking lot was already full and I could see all the cardio folks running on the treadmills while looking up at the 4-5 screens they have in front. That was enough, I turned around and went to my office. I know it's stupid, but I got to ease into a fuller gym vibe, although I doubt the power racks were all taken. Maybe in a few more weeks. At the moment, I'm really enjoying the desolate gym vibe. Like Charlton Heston lifting during the night while the zombies are out on the prowl or something. Anyway, found out that sometime between 5:30 and 6:30am the gym goes from deathly quiet (besides the piped in musak) to pretty lively.

Wednesday, 16.03.09
Felt like working out first thing, but I let obsession with class prep justify not going in. Regretted it almost immediately.

Thursday, 16.03.10
AM
Lifting
Squat: 2/2/3 @ 225
Clean-Press: 1/1/2/2 @ 135
Assisted Pullup (Supine, pronated, neutral): 3/3/3 @ -40

It felt a little less uncomfortable to lift first thing, my lower back felt less stiff and crunchy, and then on the third squat set I actually felt pretty good and considered going for reps. But I think I've committed, at least for a while, to a gradual, everyday, three lifts protocol. So I did my best to abide by it and just let the schedule adaptations come to me.

The focus has to remain on simply establishing the (nearly) everyday schedule for the next week or two. So I got set the agenda on low-effort until it starts to feel like a late afternoon workout, then start to push it. I was encouraged that on the third squat set I got a glimpse of some of that urge to push. So just gotta be patent and trust that it will come. Basically, there's two hurdles to overcome. First, when I wake up, fight the initial urge to head straight to my office for breakfast and coffee. Second, once I'm at the gym, fight the urge to quit before my body begins to warm-up. Once it's warmed-up, it takes a lot less mental effort to get through the sets. I think working off of a split routine will also help. All I have to do is nine worksets and then I can shower, eat, and have my coffee.

I really like the space at Anytime Fitness. When I'm in there alone, or with just a few people and it's almost like I'm all alone, I don't have any of that claustrophic crampedness of my garage gym. The body seems to want to fully extend into all that space when I'm doing the squat and press.

One guy seems to have the same early morning schedule as me. He's the serious lifter I think I mentioned before when I was complaining about the music a week or two ago. So that's cool. He was just coming in as I was leaving, but it's good to know there's a potential spotter around in case I decided to test a single once in a while.

Friday, 16.03.11
Felt like hitting the gym, didn't. Regretted it.

Saturday, 16.03.12
AM
Bike commuting
1.9 mi to gym
1.4 mi to office
1 mi to home

Lifting
Romanian Deadlift: 3/3/3 @ 225
Bench Press: 1/2/3 @ 185
One-hand Dumbbell Row: 3/3/3 @ 90 L & R

I got to Anytime Fitness sometime after 3am. I woke up at 2:30 very dehydrated with a slight headache. I ate a nice sized ribeye with wine for dinner the evening before but didn't eat anything else and only had carrots for lunch. So I just primed everything, still focusing on simply establishing the early morning schedule and the new three-lifts routine. Felt good to bench again. And I noticed they have a prowler, so might have to check that out at some point.

---------------Week 3: Cycle II---------------

Sunday, 16.03.13
AM
Lifting
Squat: 3/3/2 @ 225
Clean Press: 1/1/1/3 @ 135
Assisted Pullup, Pronated, Neutral, Supine Grip: 3/3/3 @ -40

Pretty proud I made it in today. I slept like a log from exhaustion and woke up with a kink in my back. Five minutes of rowing helped loosen things up, and then squats felt pretty solid. I felt a little light-headed on the first Press sets however. I think I'm still dehydrated from our family outing on Saturday. Assisted Pullups are definitely getting easier, and I think I may have lost a pound or two over the last week as well. Didn't ride my bike because it's supposed to rain and it's still cold enough to make that a little miserable, but yesterday I did manage to finally get the studded tires off so no excuses now, got start working the cyvling back in as well.

Didn't get in till after 7am, due to daylight savings time and sleeping in till 6:45 or so. 2-4 people in there with me, mostly doing cardio. Then one big guy came back to the free weights section and started doing half-squats while I was leaving. When I come in earlier I have the best of both worlds: the convenience and space of a health club together with the privacy and focus of a garage gym.

Monday, 16.03.14
AM
Lifting
RDL: 3/3/3 @ 275
Bench Press: 3/3/3 @ 185
P Row: 3/3/3 @ 135

Definitely getting easier. Maybe I can start to push things next week after another week of priming. I'll have to recalculate the loads and percentages, so far I've just been doing everything in 45- or 25-plate increments. It will all depend on how quickly I can get my squat back up. Even though I've switched things up a bit with the three-lifts, everyday protocol, I think it still makes sense for me to calibrate all the loads off the squat using the Iron Ratios.

I've lifted six out of the last nine days. Whoppee!

Tuesday, 16.03.15
AM
Lifting
Squat: 3 @ 225, 2/2/2 @ 245
Clean Press: 1/2/2/2 @ 135
Assisted Pullup, Pronated, Neutral, Supine Grip: 3/3/3 @ -40

Boosted the Squat up 20 pounds, probably should've come back down for one more set for reps at 225. I can't believe I used to be able to do 7 x 225. Still, the early morning routine is getting easier. I woke up once again debating whether to go, but by the time I was heading out the door, I actually wanted to go. I think I might have to experiment a little with pre-workout fueling though. So far, I've been pumping in a fasted state. But loading food and plates at the same time might be a shock to the system so soon after coming out of hibernation mode.

Now I've lifted 7 out of 10 days, oh yeah . . .

Wednesday, 16.03.16
Right knee a little unstable, probably shouldn't have gone up to 245 on the squats yet.

Thursday, 16.03.17
Friday, 16.03.18
Saturday, 16.03.19

---------------Week 4: Cycle II---------------
Just a day or two off to let my right knee recover, and now I'm back in slackerland. Came across this T-Nation repost Saturday morning: https://www.t-nation.com/training/maxing-on-squats-and-deadlifts-every-day

The secret to daily training is to avoid arousal. Just make it workaday and let the gains come to you. So that's the plan.

Sunday, 16.03.20
My right shoulder started hurting Saturday while sitting at an odd angle at my desk, with my feet set up to my left and my right elbow a bit high on the arm rest while manipulating the mouse and keyboard. Today it hurts more. Crap, I'm definitely more injury-prone when I don't work out regularly. Now I'm regretting not going in on Wednesday even when my right knee felt a little unstable. I could've done some light RDLs and then upper body stuff. Probably would've prevented this from happening.

OK, I'll just take it as another sign to start really light and progress slowly, as per the Wendler dictum. The only thing that matters is establishing the every morning routine, because once a day or two passes without working out, it gets hard again to motivate first thing in the morning. And now I have the niggling shoulder for an excuse, just what a slacker needs.

Monday, 16.03.21
AM
Bike commuting
1.9 mi to gym
1.4 mi to office
1 mi to home

Lifting
Primed the Squat, Press, and Chinup at low weights, just to see how my right knee and shoulder react. Sucks to be injured again, especially for no reason, but I'm going to do my best to come in each and every day this week. That article by Nuckols on the Bulgarian Method was the last pitch I needed to hear to really sell me on the high frequency approach. I think especially for aging, doing something, anything, everyday is key to keeping everything loose and limber. I've lifted enough over the last several years to know that the gains will come through sheer consistency, no reason to push, just go.

Tuesday, 16.03.22
AM
Lifting
RDL: 3/3/3 @ 225
Pendlay Row: 3/3/3 @ 135

I was thinking yesterday's light presses may have been therapeutic but then I tried to bench with just the empty bar and it almost fell on my chest. Something is f*cked up in my right shoulder, yet I didn't even injury it. Just sat with poor posture for a day.

Anyway, back on the early morning schedule at least. Didn't even feel an inkling of not wanting to go; hitting the gym was the first thing on my mind as I regained consciousness. So that's good.

Wednesday, 16.03.23
Thursday, 16.03.24
Friday, 16.03.25

Saturday, 16.03.26
AM
Lifting
Squat: 3/3 @ 175
Clean Press: 3/3 @ 95
Assisted Pullup, Supine Grip: 3/3 @ -70

Right shoulder and knee have felt pretty normal for a few days, so I went in and primed my squats, press, and chinup. I'm pretty used to the 4am gym scene now, especially when it's completely empty like today. I'll use the excuse of not wanting to re-injure the shoulder and knee to try to put in a full week of just making sure I go in everyday without any performance expectations. So the strange, bad-sitting-posture shoulder injury could be a blessing in disguise. The right knee doesn't really merit this caution, as I've got pretty good at managing the meniscus tissue issue, but it did feel cranky after doing 3 x 245 ten days ago, so perhaps a week of just priming things will be good for the knees too.

Had my annual physical on Thursday. My cholesterol is better--normal--from last summer, but my blood pressure is a little high, as is to be expected considering my aerobic training has been in stasis for three months. I weighed in at 245. The doc said I should make 225 my first target weight, and then if I can get lower than that, it's bonus. I would still like to get down to 210, but it's probably best to just focus on getting rid of 20 pounds at first. Abide's progress has inspired me a bit. I think I'm going to try conditioning work after the weights, and also cut out the 1-2 drinks every night, and go back to making alcohol just a weekend thing, like it used to be before I got married.

I told the doc about the orthos I saw last summer, and how squats have seemed to be therapeutic for my knees. He was surprised of course, having been indoctrinated in the squats-are-bad-for-your-knees silliness. He said there was little hope for my lingering shingles to get better, although it does for some. I still notice it when I'm dehydrated, so it's my canary in a coalmine for hydration. Not painful, just annoying.

All the time off from steady lifting progress has got me in the right frame of mind to just focus on weight loss and general health now. I know the lifting gains will return eventually. The main thing is to set up a consistent routine that I can do for the rest of my lift. The time has come.

---------------Week 5: Cycle II---------------

Sunday, 16.03.27
AM
Lifting
RDL: 3/3/3 @ 275
P Row: 5/5/5 @ 135
Assisted Dips: 3/3/3 @ -100

Woke up at 2:00 am. Didn't even think twice about hitting the gym. It seems to be getting easier.
One other old guy in there when I arrived.

RDLs at 275 didn't seem like such hard sell. I tried assisted dips and my right shoulder seemed OK with it, so next time I'll try a -85 pound assist. I'm thinking with the three-lifts, everyday routine, I could work in some quick assistance lifts once in a while, probably pullovers and dips, maybe landmine twist as well. With just three mandatory lifts, the structure feels more open, like only the Squats on the A workout and Deadlifts on the B workout are really set, and always done first thing. After that, I could alternate dumbbell presses for barbell presses, or do some subbing on the machines, just for kicks. Anyway, I'll try bench press on my next deadlift day to see if the right shoulder is fully recovered from the crankiness.

Monday, 16.03.28
Right shoulder began to feel a little sore as the day progressed.

Tuesday, 16.03.29
Woke up with a really sore right shoulder. Man, didn't feel it while doing the dips on Sunday. How'd that happen.

Wednesday, 16.03.30

Thursday, 16.03.31
AM
Lifting
SQ: 1/2/3 @225
RDL 3/3 @ 225
Press: 3 @ 95, left shoulder a little something, so another set of empty bar and I quit.
Assisted Pullups -70 3/3

Just went in to prime things. Right shoulder is feeling normal, but I'm going to do the upper body stuff really lite until I'm sure everything's alright again.

---------------Week 6: Cycle II---------------

Tuesday, 16.04.05
Saw Dentist about lower left tooth ache.

Thursday, 16.04.07
Dentist pulled out my back molar and scrapped out all the infected tissue.

---------------Week 7: Cycle II---------------

Sunday, 16.04.10
Two miles bike commuting.

Monday, 16.04.11
Feeling really soggy. Enough is enough!

Tuesday, 16.04.12
AM
Lifting
SQ: 3/3/3 @ 95
OHP: 3/3/3 @ 95
RDL: 3/3/3 @ 135
P Rw: 3/3/3 @ 135
BP: 3/3/3 @ 95
As. PU: 3/3/3 @ -55lbs (BW:245 - 55lbs assist = 190lbs)

OK, finally motivated. I'm going to spend the rest of the cycle just priming, no goals, make sure my knees and shoulders are good and lubed before I try serious loads. Try to end the cycle with 1U = 60, so with the Iron Ratio of

OHP = 2
P Row = 2.5
Pullup = 2.7
BP = 3
SQ/RDL = 4
DL = 4.6

I'll try to get everything up to

OHP = 120
P Row = 150
Pullup = 162
BP = 180
SQ/RDL = 240
DL = 270

Before I begin the microloading again in the next training cycle. Plus I have to get in 12 sessions per calendar month in order to get my insurance rebate of $20, so it will behoove me to go for a week straight without pushing it so much that I need a day of recovery.

Hmnn, wait a minute, the assisted pullups are too low. I might have to mess with the Iron Ratio a bit.

Wednesday, 16.04.13

Thursday, 16.04.14

Friday, 16.04.15
AM
Lifting
SQ: 2/2/3 @ 185
OHP: 3/3/3 @ 120
As. PU: 3/3/3 @ -25lbs (BW:245 - 25lbs assist = 220lbs)
BP: 3/3/3 @ 95
P Rw: 3/3/3 @ 135
RDL: 3/3/3 @ 225

More priming. Did assisted pullups with just a 25-pound assist, so I'm at where my bodyweight should be in a few months if I can ever get back to consistent training. Didn't feel to hard to hit the gym, the mental part has been vanquished, not I just have to train enough that I can do some serious loads first thing. Still holding off on that for a while.

Got one of Abide's colds. The kids have had the sniffles, but I've been a bit sleep deprived for many days, and I think that left me vulnerable. Oh well, one good night of sleep ought to take care of it.

Saturday, 16.04.16
Five miles biking, family outing. Great to cycle with the wife and kids.

Woke up with strange kink in my right hip. A combination of lifting on Friday and sleeping too well Friday night? Anyway, decided to take time off until it feels better. I don't want to screw things up again.

---------------Week 8: Cycle II---------------

Sunday, 16.04.17

Monday, 16.04.18

Tuesday, 16.04.19

Wednesday, 16.04.20

Thursday, 16.04.21
Kept putting off working out because of the weird kink in my right upper hip area. I think it was the RDLs on my last workout then stiffening up afterwards. I think lifting is a little like running, insofar as the more you do it, the less maintenance work you need.

Anyway, made it back to Anytime Fitness, just primed everything, went ultra conservative on the Squats and avoided the RDLs:

AM
Lifting
SQ: 2 @ 175
OHP: 3/3/6 @ 95
P Rw: 3/3/3 @ 135
As. PU: 3/3/3 @ -25lbs (BW:245 - 25lbs assist = 220lbs)

I have to go every day for the rest of April now if I want to get my 12 days in and get my $20 health insurance discount. I'm not really worried about the twenty bucks, but it's a good excuse to get my butt in gear. I'll keep the squats light and avoid RDLs until the kink in my hip has worked itself out. Will get into the straddle stretch contraption later today.

Friday, 16.04.22
AM
Lifting
SQ: 2 @ 175
OHP: 3/3/3 @ 95
P Rw: 3/3/3 @ 135
RDL: 3 @ 135
BP: 10? @ 95
As. PU: 3 @ -25lbs (BW:245 - 25lbs assist = 220lbs)

Well, made it back for a consecutive day. Kept everything lite, easy does it, let's just try to establish the early morning, everyday routine. I'll know when it's time to add weight. Right now I want to do everything to avoid another niggle. My right hip area is still a little stiff, but it seemed to tolerate Thursday's workout OK.

Saturday, 16.04.23

 

Four out of six = two out of three, not bad. And like you say, the recomposition angle makes pure weight an unreliable measure. It's all about the belt! I've been getting fatter with my inactivity, that's for sure, but it's mostly body decomposition. I don't have any real strength goals for this cycle, but it would be nice to start losing fat, so I guess whatever helps bring that about is the program. I'll start with the EOD lifting-aerobic alternation, and then add more conditioning if the weight doesn't start to go down by the middle of this cycle.

I'm already loving how the early morning workout sets up the rest of the day. Better concentration and energy. And this is just the first day, after a very light workout.

I worked out on an empty stomach. Might have to rethink that, although I seemed to tolerate it ok. My usual mid-afternoon, pre-workout meal is a banana and protein bar, so perhaps I'll try that next time as my pre-breakfast.

I don't do vitamins too much, but I find they go down best after lunch with two meals in me, and no exercise for a while afterwards. In general, I question all processed crap, including crap that's supposed to be good for you.

I like how we're both zeroing in on programming that works for us. I honestly don't see myself veering too much from what I've already tried. I'm in the tweaking stage I guess.

Good news on the shoulder front. A successful rehab is almost as satisfying as making gains. I'm feeling pretty uninjured these days as well, so I'm going to be sure to work back up to my previous maxes nice and slow.

I really like the space of the Anytime Fitness place I joined. Two guys came in shortly after I was there, but the place is so big I still felt like I was working out alone until I benched next to one of the guys. I asked him about the place. He said more people start coming in around 5:30 or 6am. I asked him if I could change the piped-in music, which had tears for fears in the background at the time of my asking. Dim memories of crappy bars in Japan. He grimaced in empathy and said no. So maybe I'll start wearing my Sony earbuds again, if I can find them. Another great thing about a place like that is that everything is already set up, so I may be more likely to top things off with a little assistance at the end of my workout sometimes. I may also stretch a bit more, as there's a couple of nice places for that. Finally, the j-hooks on the power rack I tried were just about at the perfect height for squating, and had more clearance on the sides before the sleeves, to the racking and deracking doesn't have to be as precise as it had to be at the university gym. Finally also, they have grip plates, which I've grown fond of.

Edit: later in the day, feeling post-workout drowsiness. I hope I adapt . . . I almost never feel drowsy during the day when I work out at the end of it.

 

Yah, I need to get better about taking my vitamins. Maybe EOD in case they work, and in case it's all a commercial hoax.

Speaking of vegetarianism, I'm having ribeye tonight.

Yah, you know, I like the three-rep sets quite a lot. I don't get that gassed and I spend less time in-between sets than I do with five- and seven-rep sets. But I do think the higher rep sets do have some benefit. I dunno. At this point, I just want to re-establish a routine, any kind of routine, before I start thinking about specifics again. It's felt good to have turned off the obsessive button for lifting for a while. But I know sooner or later I'll start chasing gains again and overthink how to achieve them.

My knees felt a little funny after yesterday's workout. I guess they need to readapt as well. It's a balance between not overstressing the meniscus and keeping the rest of the knee joint strong.

Hey, thanks for the rec, I think I'll go ahead and order the ones in your second link. Could be a good option. I used to have a wrap-around style MP3 player like that, and I really liked not having to deal with cords. My older brother gave me some really expensive ear buds for my birthday last year, but the bass is overwhelming at times and they're so expensive that I'm almost afraid to use them or lose them. Earbuds seem to have a shelf life, so it doesn't make sense to spend more than 30-40 bucks or so, right?

It feels good to feel a little sore from yesterday's workout. I'll ramp it up a little during tomorrow's, and then hopefully I'll be decently primed and ready to begin Cycle II next week. Now it's time to change my bike tires. Didn't end up using the studded tires that much this winter, what with my inactivity and the relative lack of snow. Of course, it can often snow a lot in March, but it melts pretty quickly at this time of year, so off with the studs. I've become something of a Schwalbe fan.

 

Just ribbing you, so to speak, about the vegetarianism. I love vegetables of course. Just don't understand the need to completely forgo meat, but I don't mean to get into that polemic.

With the rep-counts, I sometimes wonder if it really matters much at all, at least within the 3-8 range, at least for intermediates. I'm thinking about going back to an ultra simple 3x5 approach, and just mix in other rep counts for the hell of it. It's nice whenever every workout is the same, just six lifts, 3x5, and then if you have time for something else great, but with the mono-workout, missing workouts is never a problem in terms of figuring out whether to repeat the missed one, or go on to the next one and its configuration. So I may try that again in this cycle. I guess I'll know in a week or two which way I'm leaning.

Yah, the Germans always seem to make the best stuff.

 

Yah, it's nice to have some built-in flexibility, but also have a some constants to base everything on. Really, for me, the five-rep set is the base I think. A nice mix of strength and stamina, fairly easy to do, so not too much CNS involvement.

Congrats on the progress!

Yah, for me, if I could only use the belt for one lift, it would be the squat. On the other lifts it feels pretty optional.

Face pulls huh? I guess when I do my deadlifts, rows, and presses I feel like the lats pull me back into good posture. Now with so much time off, my posture is starting to go though. I think running also fatigues your back. Are you stopping to stretch at all on your long runs? I remember that helping a lot. When the hamstrings start to tighten, I think they pull on the back.

P.S., been thinking about upgrading my bass kit now that I'm jamming with my friends more. I've always played the same fretless bass I bought second-hand in high school. Now I'm looking into a DIY bass with a Warmoth neck and body. Warmoth is a company that allows you customize, so you can choose your woods, shape, routing, etc. So I've been lurking around the TalkBass forums. Funny to get a view into another online subculture. BRS is the only one I've known up to now. Most bass players are mellow fellows, just like barefoot runners, so there's a good, supportive vibe there as well. It's amazing how technically savvy some of them are though. It's been a real education trying to figure out my preferences for neck radius, pickup configuration, even nut size. I'm going to have a local Luthier put it all together for me. Then I'll have my dream bass.

 

They forgot to mention a key ingredient in the Rock's diet: juice!

 

Good Luck!

 

Yah, finished everything up Wednesday, or was it yesterday? Choosing the woods and design was the hardest part, but then I had to sort through all the pickup, preamp, and hardware choices. And I've never been that interested in the technological side of things, so it took a lot of self-education. Luckily, there's a online forum, Talkbass, that has a wealth of information. (Similar to some of BRS's controversies, they have one about whether tone woods make any real difference in sound with electric as opposed to acoustic instruments--and then everyone posts pictures of people eating popcorn.) It was my primary search site for information--they've been around since the late 90s. I just lurked though, although I'll probably decloak and say thank you to everyone once I get the bass together. It really was an invaluable source of information. I ended up going German again for the pickups (Delano) and preamp (Glockenklang). I mainly play fretless, lean more towards jazz than rock, and went with boutique-type woods (I decided they make a difference because all the high-end basses use them and charge three times more than what it's taking me to put my bass together), so it made sense to get the most accurate and transparent electronics possible. And no one beats the Germans for high-end quality, as far as I can tell. But it's a slippery slope: "If I'm paying this much for the wood, then why not pay a little more for the bridge," and "if I'm pay this much for the bridge, why not pay a little more for some lightweight tuners," and so on.

Anyway, 4-5 weeks for Warmoth to make the body and neck, then 1-2 weeks once it's in my hands for my luthier to put it all together. It's pretty funny buying a musical instrument I've never seen or played, but with the elements that are going into it, I can't see how I can go wrong. I'll PM you a picture of it when it's all done.

Yah, I've been bad about cycling there, but I will start soon. that will help with warmup. And they have a rower, so I usually spend five minutes on it warming up. Just haven't been marking it in the log, cuz it's just warmup. But yeah, the delayed money sets seems pretty accurate. More reason to stick to three lifts and maybe do more sets, either more warmup sets or more worksets, or both. I have been liking the lesser mental burden of just three lifts. It's much less of an ordeal now. So once again I'm following your lead.