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Posted

Spent all yesterday at a spa, melting in hot water and trying to relax as much as possible. Did I manage to fully let any tension go? Not really, but now my skin is smooth as silk. Sadly I didn't have time/energy to meditate.

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  • Deadlift: 1x5x132,5kg + 1x6x120kg
  • Chin-ups: 4xAMRAP (10-7-6-6)
  • Dead hangs: 2 sets
    • 1m10s + 1m05s ; meh.
  • Like 2
Posted
  • Chin-ups: 1x5xBW+15kg + 1x8xBW+7,5 + 1x8xBW
    • First set a bit weaker, but number went up in the following ones
  • Bench Press: 1x7x77,5kg + 1x8x75kg + 1x9x70kg
    • Back to the old bench, 'cause it feels way better on my back. The numbers are showing my body likes it better. I'll try to instruct better my spotters, to compensate the non adjustable bar position.
  • Anti-pronation exercise: 1x5x20kg
  • SLS: 1x5xBW
    • Felt more confident than last week, but the movement was still shaky. My stiff ankle is definitely a hindrance, here.
  • Ankle mobility
  • Like 1
Posted

Happy new year, folks! I've few entries to make today.

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Friday I was too busy, so I skipped my squat day (shameful, I know), but I compensated by spending the whole Saturday on ski slopes! Second season in a row, after a stop of roughly six years. Interestingly, despite my increase strength, I found skiing was an intense enough activity to drain my energy and leave me with painful muscles. I never get serious DOMs from lifting, but I do from skiing. Other things I got were an aching lower back (skiing off-track can be bumpy) and discomfort in my left knee.

-----

Monday: back on training hard, last session of 2018.

  • Deadlift: 1x4x132,5(+20)kg + 1x6x120(+20)kg
    • Shitty numbers conclude a shitty year. My legs were shaking during the last rep of my heaviest set, most definitely because I didn't stretch my HF the day before (quads were overly engaged). On the bright side, DL healed my aching back.
  • Chin-ups: 4xAMRAP (11-8-8-7)
  • Dead hangs: 2 sets
    • 1m10s + 1m

------

On New Year's Even I ate A LOT, so today I'm gonna fast until dinner.

Oh and I'll drink a lot of tea! @Nathando you remember our chat about caffeine and theanine content in tea? My girlfriend gifted my with a Matcha set, on Christmas. I've always liked the taste, but I've never really been a consumer, but now that I'm drinking it daily I have to say it's amazing! The theanine content is so high I can feel my body relax as a result! Not only that: the relatively high caffeine content brings a good quality of alertness to my mind! It's wonderful for both meditation and yoga nidra (in fact zen monks drink matcha a lot).  

  • Like 1
Posted

 

  • Bench Press: 1x8x77,5kg + 1x8x75kg + 1x9x70kg
    • Numbers are looking good
  • Chin-ups: 1x4xBW+15kg + 1x6xBW+7,5 + 1x8xBW
    • Shitty performance, I felt tired right from the start
  • Anti-pronation exercise: 1x5x20kg
  • Single Leg Squats: 3x5xBW
    • Solid sets! It's time to increase the reps!
  • Ankle mobility
    • Something is slowly changing, I'm almost able to perform what resembles a squat
  • Like 1
Posted
On 1/1/2019 at 10:40 PM, jaja said:

Oh and I'll drink a lot of tea! @Nathando you remember our chat about caffeine and theanine content in tea? My girlfriend gifted my with a Matcha set, on Christmas. I've always liked the taste, but I've never really been a consumer, but now that I'm drinking it daily I have to say it's amazing! The theanine content is so high I can feel my body relax as a result! Not only that: the relatively high caffeine content brings a good quality of alertness to my mind! It's wonderful for both meditation and yoga nidra (in fact zen monks drink matcha a lot).  

I wonder if you mean actual matcha or just green tea. In Japanese, 抹茶 (matcha) refers specifically to the very expensive powdered green tea that has a very rich, strong flavor. But in other parts of the world, matcha is simply used to refer to all green tea. What's normally found as green tea overseas is what we call 煎茶 (sencha) in Japanese. (There are several other names for specific types too.) Sencha is much lighter and tastes more like a conventional tea. Both are good, but they are quite different. I love matcha, but I'm not a big sencha fan, although some quality stuff tastes quite good.

On 1/2/2019 at 12:37 AM, jaja said:

Update: drinking matcha during a fast is not a good idea. Nausea and vomit for me, today.

:lol: Matcha/green tea actually has quite a high caffeine content. Not everyone does well with tons of caffeine on an empty stomach. (You can usually get used to it over time, though.)

10 hours ago, jaja said:

Something is slowly changing, I'm almost able to perform what resembles a squat

:)

Posted
6 hours ago, Nathan said:

:lol: Matcha/green tea actually has quite a high caffeine content. Not everyone does well with tons of caffeine on an empty stomach. (You can usually get used to it over time, though.

Don't think it's the caffeine content. I do fine having had a mug or even two of coffee on an empty stomach. But a single cup of tea will make me nauseous. Or maybe that's because I'm used to coffee?

Posted
On 1/3/2019 at 7:45 PM, Rik said:

Don't think it's the caffeine content. I do fine having had a mug or even two of coffee on an empty stomach. But a single cup of tea will make me nauseous. Or maybe that's because I'm used to coffee?

Yeah, probably. They both have caffeine, but it comes with a whole host of other things too. Most of them can be healthy, but they might not agree with your empty stomach. You might try different teas too if you really want to drink the tea while fasting. Some will probably agree more with you than others. Lots of other good options too, though. Hojicha is roasted green tea, and has a nice, rich flavor. Barley tea is good, and I really like rooibos too. Those last two are caffeine-free.

Posted
On 1/3/2019 at 5:16 AM, Nathan said:

I wonder if you mean actual matcha or just green tea. In Japanese, 抹茶 (matcha) refers specifically to the very expensive powdered green tea that has a very rich, strong flavor. But in other parts of the world, matcha is simply used to refer to all green tea. What's normally found as green tea overseas is what we call 煎茶 (sencha) in Japanese. (There are several other names for specific types too.) Sencha is much lighter and tastes more like a conventional tea. Both are good, but they are quite different. I love matcha, but I'm not a big sencha fan, although some quality stuff tastes quite good.

It's a powdered tea and the set comes with a chasen, so I believe it's true matcha!

On 1/3/2019 at 5:16 AM, Nathan said:

:lol: Matcha/green tea actually has quite a high caffeine content. Not everyone does well with tons of caffeine on an empty stomach. (You can usually get used to it over time, though.)

I don't usually have issues drinking coffee with an empty stomach, but I only have espressos when I'm in Italy. Maybe a cup of mathca is stronger in caffeine, or maybe I felt sick also for other chemicals found in it.

Posted

Oh boy I'm gonna have DOMS tomorrow

  • Squat: 1x7x112,5kg + 1x8x102,5kg + 1x9x92,5kg + 1x10x85kg
    • Hit proper depth and felt every rep. I ended up exhausted
  • Bent Over Row: 1x6x60kg + 1x7x57,5kg + 1x8x55kg
  • Dead hangs: 2 sets
    • 1m30s ; 60s
  • Ankle mobility
  • Single leg squat: 3x5

-----

I'm experimenting with tongue positioning, trying what apparently is known as “mewing” (maybe I'll open a thread about it). Basically it all comes down in trying to make the tongue rest completely on the palate as a default position. Why am I truing this? Well, I recall @Craig saying something about the important of tongue position with regard to posture and balance. On top of that, I have TMJ and I've been told by my dentist my mandible is slightly too large for my maxilla to close in a proper way. If only I could manage to increase my maxilla's size a little bit it'd be great…I think.

----

Weird thing happening during my sitting meditations. Probably due to my increase in muscle size, I feel a pressure on my left side, right over the hip. That side has always beed bigger (I have a LLD), but know I can feel the difference. Obviously it's annoying.

Posted
2 hours ago, jaja said:

On top of that, I have TMJ and I've been told by my dentist my mandible is slightly too large for my maxilla to close in a proper way.

Please just do the YT jaw sequence from time to time. Many many dentists have said many many things, but only some of them are accurate. Bite is only a function of the balance of forces around the TMJ; and that is 100% under your control, in time.

Posted
8 hours ago, jaja said:

It's a powdered tea and the set comes with a chasen, so I believe it's true matcha!

Yeah, that sounds like true matcha, in which case you're very lucky! Most people outside of Japan don't get to find out just how good real matcha is :D

8 hours ago, jaja said:

Maybe a cup of mathca is stronger in caffeine, or maybe I felt sick also for other chemicals found in it.

Most likely the other components. Matcha has a fair amount of caffeine in it, but it should still be a good bit less than comes from an equal amount of espresso. It does have a lot of theanine, though, and a different antioxidant profile, etc. Or you might have just drank way too much :lol:

 

Posted
22 hours ago, Nathan said:

Yeah, that sounds like true matcha, in which case you're very lucky! Most people outside of Japan don't get to find out just how good real matcha is :D

On 1/5/2019 at 3:58 AM, jaja said:

Any tips on how a fellow in South Korea might get his hands on the real deal? ?

  • Like 1
Posted
13 hours ago, Naldaramjo said:

Any tips on how a fellow in South Korea might get his hands on the real deal? ?

:lol: Well, I was really referring to more Western countries. I would think it would be fairly easy to get over here in Asia. A quick search tells me that you want to look for 말차 :)

Edit: Also ran across this: Korean Powdered Tea Vs. Japanese Matcha. Not sure how accurate it is, but interesting nonetheless.

  • Thanks 1
Posted
On 1/4/2019 at 10:58 PM, Kit_L said:

Please just do the YT jaw sequence from time to time. Many many dentists have said many many things, but only some of them are accurate. Bite is only a function of the balance of forces around the TMJ; and that is 100% under your control, in time.

So do you suggest not to experiment with tongue position? I should add that my main issue is a mandible that makes a clicking noise and in the past got even “blocked” one time. I also noticed my jaw's default position is slightly tilted on my left, almost certainly because I've always slept with an arm under the right side of my face.

-----

Today I felt sick in my bowels, but I managed to have a decent stretching session:

 

  • Partner HF stretch
  • Hamstrings stretch
  • Neck&jaw sequence
  • Scalenes stretch
  • Partner shoulder pushdown stretch
  • Partner HF stretch - round 2

Still not feeling all that great, maybe I caught a virus — I hope not.

Posted
On 1/5/2019 at 4:17 AM, Nathan said:

Yeah, that sounds like true matcha, in which case you're very lucky! Most people outside of Japan don't get to find out just how good real matcha is :D

I'm not sure wether I prepare it properly though. I need practice with the chasen, I think: the foam I make isn't as dense ad I'd like it to be.

  • Like 1
Posted
9 hours ago, Nathan said:

:lol: Well, I was really referring to more Western countries. I would think it would be fairly easy to get over here in Asia. A quick search tells me that you want to look for 말차 :)

Edit: Also ran across this: Korean Powdered Tea Vs. Japanese Matcha. Not sure how accurate it is, but interesting nonetheless.

Thanks for this...after nearly 4 years in Korea...I'm still learning new things. First time I've come across the term 말차...amusing and informative article. It seems both teas are worth their reputations, if only for slightly different reasons.

Do you know of a Japanese site that ships Matcha internationally? I'd like to get my hands on the real thing, if possible.

Posted
3 hours ago, Naldaramjo said:

Do you know of a Japanese site that ships Matcha internationally? I'd like to get my hands on the real thing, if possible.

I've bought it here in Australia, from a Japanese Grocery Supplies store.  I'd be very surprised, if you couldn't find similar in Korea.

But if you can't find a local supplier, you can certainly find a Korean supplier online:

http://www.greennae.kr/product-category/matcha-all/?orderby=price

At least one of the products listed purports to be "the real thing":

Quote

Made from authentic Japanese Tencha leaves (NOT Sencha)

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted
9 minutes ago, pogo69 said:

I've bought it here in Australia, from a Japanese Grocery Supplies store.  I'd be very surprised, if you couldn't find similar in Korea.

But if you can't find a local supplier, you can certainly find a Korean supplier online:

http://www.greennae.kr/product-category/matcha-all/?orderby=price

At least one of the products listed purports to be "the real thing":

 

Whoa! Great site...local supplier means speedy shipping, too. Thanks!

  • Like 1
Posted
4 hours ago, Naldaramjo said:

Do you know of a Japanese site that ships Matcha internationally? I'd like to get my hands on the real thing, if possible.

When I did that search the other day, I saw them mentioning on Reddit that the imported stuff could be bought in the nicer department stores there. If you can't find anything, though, let me know - I can always send it!

11 hours ago, jaja said:

I'm not sure wether I prepare it properly though. I need practice with the chasen, I think: the foam I make isn't as dense ad I'd like it to be.

Well, the tea ceremony is truly an art and can always be refined further, so keep practicing ;) That said, you don't have to be a master to make delicious matcha. You'll have it down in no time, I'm sure!

  • Like 2
Posted

Yesterday's log:

  • Deadlift: 1x5x132,5kg + 1x7x120kg
    • Was tired since the beginning, afterwards I got almost sleepy
  • Chin-ups: 4xAMRAP (8-8-8-7)
    • Sub-optimal performance, here
  • Dead hangs: 2 sets
    • 1m10s ; 1m
  • Ankle mobility
    • Last time I was positively surprised, this time I'm disappointed. My right ankle really has “something” in the front, which hinders its ability to flex properly.
  • Like 1
Posted

Yesterday’s workout:

  • Chin-ups: 1x7xBW+15kg + 1x8xBW+7,5 + 1x9xBW
  • Bench Press: 1x5x80kg + 1x6x77,5kg + 1x7x72,5kg
  • Anti-pronation exercise: 1x5x20kg
  • Plank: 1min
  • Dead hang: 1m30s
  • Wall pec minor stretch

 

———

As I’m writing this it’s 6:50am. I woke up at 5:30 because at 6:00 I had an appointment with a skilled physiotherapist. He treats people with deep massage techniques and he was the one who cured my pubagy, years ago.

I went there and asked him to take a look on my right ankle. He said it has adhesions and proceeds to massage it, occasionally sliding a wooden spoon on the font of my ankle. Unpleasant to say the least, but not the worst thing he has done on me.

I feel better already, but I’ll come back a week from now for a second treatment that should fix my ankle for good. He said to keep training and loading it, because it’s weak. He suggested cord jumps and I’m definitely gonna do it as a warmup from now on. He also said stretching is not enough: I need to load it and strengthen it.

  • Like 1
Posted

Yesterday's log:

  • Squat: 1x7x112,5kg + 1x9x102,5kg + 1x10x92,5kg + 1x11x85kg
    • The 7th rep of my first set turned into a modified good morning, so I didn't attempt more. I managed to increase numbers in the following ones, though.
  • Bent Over Row: 1x8x60kg + 1x8x57,5kg + 1x9x55kg
  • Dead hangs: 3 sets
    • 1m40s ; 1m20s ; 1m10s
  • Anti-pronation exercise: 2x5x20kg
  • Ankle mobilization
    • The PT worked, but I still feel some restrictions on my right ankle. There's hope, though
  • One arm dead hangs: 1 set
    • Tried this just for fun, but managed to last 20 seconds per arm! Left side feels odd in the shoulder, though.

----

This morning I feel my lower back aching a bit (quadratus lomborum, probably), as a result of my almost failed rep in the first set of squats. Not good, because this weekend I've my shiatsu training.

  • Like 1
Posted

Yesterday's log:

  • Bench Press: 1x6x80kg + 1x7x77,5kg + 1x7x72,5kg
    • Could've been better, but I'd rather not complain
  • Chin-ups: 1x4xBW+15kg + 1x7xBW+7,5 + 1x8xBW
    • Absolute shit, I felt very tired from the start
  • Anti-pronation exercise: 1x8x20kg
    • Increased rep number, it's getting quite challenging!
  • Single leg calf raises (bodyweight)
    • I've been experimenting with these since my PT told me I need more strength in the ankles. I try to make the movement as slow and controlled as possible. Extremely difficult to keep the balance
  • Ankle mobility
    • Still huge discrepancy between left and right
  • Like 2

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