Progress is Like a Mustache

Apologies to the readers; I have to prioritize the BJJ blog, and I am really enjoying that one since it forces me to think about my game and how to improve it. Things I used to get bummed about and forget in two weeks, I now write down and analyze. I think I might make progress again.

On the CF/PL front, I'm between cycles, and I've been doing everything intuitively, or more precisely, fucking off. If I want to do something, I do it, if I don't want to do something, I don't do it.

Last week I wanted to see where my bench is, and I worked up to a paused 250 single with a narrow grip. This is a sort of neo-PR as it's the most I've done since I stopped benching years ago. Even better though, it's an all-time narrow grip PR. Previously my best with a narrow grip was around 215. After doing some intense wide grip work last October and November, I started to get some shoulder pain, and I thought it was time to bring the grip in and not worry about my numbers. Longevity also counts, afterall.

This week I wanted to see where my squat was. I had felt extremely good the last two weeks first hitting a 345 double, then doing a 350 single that felt ridiculously light, so I thought I'd push for a real single.

I missed 375 on depth, but I could feel it was a mental and not physical problem, so I loaded 385 and hit it without much struggle. Since this was a 10 pound PR I stopped, but probably I should have tried 405. At any rate 375 was where I was last July when I blew up my back.

I remember laying face down on the mats wondering if I would leave under my own power, and then as the weeks passed, I wondered if I'd ever squat 100, 200, or 300 pounds again.

That was also about the time I was growing the fuzzy outline of a future mustache. I just did what I was supposed to, in this case not shaving, and six or seven months later I've got a braided beuty that would make Genghis Khan jealous.

Other than that, I'm doing 30 days of ultra strict paleo eating. That's not really much of a challenege for me, so to make it meaningful, I removed nuts from my diet. I didn't waste time weighing myself, but subjectively I feel leaner already.

Finally today is my first day in about 80 years without coffee. I'm alive, sort of. I'll report on this one later.