First of all it was nice to meet all the lurkers. I’m glad you guys get something out of this. I’m also glad that many of you are apparently miscers. We should have a miscer meet up some time. At a Gold’s Gym. We can all wear tank tops. Do a bunch of lat delt raises and curls together. Point and stare at hot chicks. Not talk to them. It sounds like a real fucking good Saturday to me.

asdf asks:

Update on VPVG? When’s the wedding and how many months pregnant is she?

Oh I’m actually glad you asked. I’ll probably be invited TO her wedding – I don’t know when it is going to be, you’ll have to ask her or the guy she went facebook official with. The last time I text her she didn’t respond it’s fine. To be fair I text her “so what are you wearing” after having not spoken with her for more than a week. And before that I text her, “I just want you to know that the doctor just walked in on me taking a dump,” which was a true story. I thought I’d locked the door. The bathrooms at the clinic are single-person and don’t have stalls. She thought the poop exhibition story was funny. Please respond.

I pressed 185lbs for two doubles yesterday (Monday), which is one rep better than last time I did this. It would have been cooler if I pressed it for a triple though.

Front squat 355lbs x 3, 365lbs x 2, did some shitty ring-dips at +90lbs, Saul said I could have descended an inch lower.

Tonight I snatched up to 225lbs and cleaned up to 295lbs and managed to get it overhead, but not without my left elbow unlocking in the process of trying to hold it:

So this isn’t a c+j PR but it is the most I’ve held overhead.

I then did some snatch-grip pulls, barbell rows, weighted chins at +75lbs for two sets, and barbell curls. For the guy who wanted to see my barbell rowing:

Danger asks:

Hey Brent! What made you decide to oly lift instead of powerlifting?
Is it because oly lifting has more cool montages on YouTube?

Oly lifting is funner to me. I like the skill and timing component. I like the feel of smoking the pull and being right where I need to be to receive the bar and stand with it. I like the feel of a smooth, controlled dip and an explosive drive and the feeling of catching the barbell with elbows locked. Those are pretty addicting once you’ve felt them and I like trying to repeat those with weights I haven’t lifted before. PL is OK too but I feel like there is not as much challenge or necessity in performing the lifts well.

cmoney writes:

Brent, how do you feel about Jon North? It was pretty fun watching him take 3rd in the American Open.
It was also pretty fun watching our best lifter bomb out because 191 was just too hard to jerk. What does it say about our country that our best lifter jerks like a fucking asshole?

Jon North is a motivated and talented athlete who has consistently exhibited progress. I have to respect him for that. I used to not be a fan of his antics or demeanor but after watching more of the Cal Strength vids he just seems like a guy who doesn’t take himself too serious and has a lot of fun. I am a fan of Jon North.

Re: “what does it say about our country,” first of all, I hate the whole agenda about “American weightlifting” as if anyone should give a shit about how our country places on the world stage. It’s just fucking lifting weights. No one gives that much of a shit about it and if you do you maybe you should start training to qualify for the World Team. If you’re that fucking unhappy about how the US ranks in this sport why don’t you go and inject a gram of test a week and do something about it. Everyone who is talking shit about the guys in the B and C and D sessions of international meets is a fucking armchair athlete who would never be selected to be on the World Team in the first place. “Oh they should train different oh they’re squatting the wrong way oh they’re not strong enough they need to pull a heavy triple.” Fucking give me a break. Where are the athletes who train “the right way?” Because they’re not posting totals at high-level meets. It’s pretty rare for the people criticizing the athletes at the OTC and regional development centers to even be actively involved in the sport.

Jared Fleming, Jon North, and Ian Wilson are motivated athletes. So they don’t c+j 95% of the world record – I’m sure they’re real sorry they’re not meeting your standards. But they fucking smoke you and you’d probably embarrass yourself if you put in the hours they did. They’re training, have achieved results that make them among the best athletes in the US, and are striving to get better. Whether or not you agree with their methodology is irrelevant. It’s hard for me to imagine that the people who think they’re not good enough have accomplished or even attempted to achieve a fraction of what they have.

Paul writes:

What exactly is a “gordon fuck”? Where does the saying come from? If I puss out on a snatch and act like a jelly dicked virgin about lifting weights= bit of a fucking gordon? Aware me.

A gordon fuck is an awkward-looking loser. If someone walks around with an internally-rotated, hyper-kyphotic posture, they’re a gordon fuck. If someone is wearing a short-sleeve button up shirt, khakis, and brown sucks, he’s a gordon fuck. If you see someone doing high rep clean-and-push presses with no hip extension, the bar out in front of him overhead, and 115lbs on the bar, he’s a gordon fuck.

Tiny writes:

Lurker here, I use “its fine” at least nine times throughout the day now. It’s fine.

lol

asdf writes:

Brent can you codify and share the folder/list of things that have been said and done to you that make you want to train? Or at least a few important samples. Thanks.

I’d rather not.

Re: mocha poll, I guess 60-70% of my readers are assholes, it’s fine, brb having 20-30 people post in the comments while at least another 170 lurk, that’s not fucking creepy at all.

Gonna talk a lot about mobbing and training so here’s a spoiler tag for those of you who read this blog waiting for reasons other than you want to know how pumped my quads feel in my soffes.

[spoiler effect=”simple”]
Thursday night I snatched up to 205lbs off the boxes, from below the knee. I attempted 215 and 225lbs a few times and shoveled shit obviously. I also cleaned up to 290lbs twice and failed to jerk it both times it’s fucking fine. I did high-bar back squat 420lbs x 3 though for a PR, then 405lbs for two more triples, that was pretty OK.

The fitness model/PL chick was there that night, I don’t know how I survived.

Tonight I snatched up to 215lbs, missed 230 and 235lbs, then c+jed up to 270lbs and missed a 290lbs clean. This will have been the third day I went after max attempts in the lifts so I mean it’s fucking fine.

Benched 245lbs x 5, felt pretty good so went 250lbs x 5, 5, 4. Which would be a pretty OK bench day. At my best I benched 250lbs for 2 or 3 sets of 5. I did the best shoulder mob ever before this workout and I couldn’t have felt better going into the bench, that and having done some tack-and-stretch on my tris just above the elbow and whatever bands I felt higher up the arm just made me feel pretty good. The weighted ring dips seem to also have helped a lot with my ability to grind through lock-outs.

RDLed 365lbs x 6, 5, these were pretty hard. Some mob things I’ve been doing before squats and deads is rolling out my high hamstrings/glutes with a lacrosse ball and hunting for bands, and also some high hamstring flossing with joint approximation. The fucking lacrosse ball to hamstring/glute is real fucking good, keeping knees out gets a lot easier and it just feels like so much more shit is being utilized. Hip flexion + external rotation bias is also a pretty big deal as far as making going into the hole in the squats and has become part of my pre-workout ritual.

I basically always do couch stretch and hip flexion + external rotation before every workout now, and one or two upper body mobs dependent on what I’m doing that day. I like the best shoulder mob ever for pressing but will also roll out external rotators/peri-scapular region –> all the way across to lateral deltoid, double lacrosse ball to t-spine for the oly lifts. Joint approximation with the hips makes my bottom position feel too loose if done immediately before so I typically plan to do those the night before. I consider those my everday homework for minimum credit. Suprapatellar tack-and-stretch and the analog for the tris I’ll do after some nasty benching/pressing/squatting and while it can be pretty unpleasant it pays dividends in my fucking life. [/spoiler]

Did some lat raises and barbell curls, I’ve been focusing on slow negatives and it’s been pretty good for the pump.

My aunt’s pomeranian died, that dog was her fucking life. His name was Oscar. He was a fluffeh white ball who spent the last years of life a diabetic going blind and deaf. My aunt was the kind of dog owner who had no problem with administering Oscar’s insulin shots twice a day at 6am and again at 6pm, and in fact in her mind it was yet another way of expressing her undying affection for the little guy. I liked him more than my grandma’s pomeranian who is a real fucking piece of shit, brb exploding into an orange ball of fury and biting you for getting up off the couch? Fuck that guy. His name is Benjamin. Caesar Milan needs to pay that motherfucker a visit. Benjamin used to be house trained until he moved in with my aunt along with my grandma, and now he’s not, so instead of re-house-training him they just put him in a fucking diaper. It’s fine. The guy’s a fucking piece of shit, he doesn’t deserve dignity.

So I brought my aunt flowers, and as with any visit with my family the following conversation ensues:

Aunt: “Brent do you have a girlfriend yet?”
Brent: “No.”
Aunt: “Why not?”
Brent: “I dunno.” – I DO know, it’s because I didn’t hook up with some fucking Asian chick in high school, date her for 7 years, and then marry her before I was fucking ready like a smarter guy in my position would have done, but I can’t tell her that.
Aunt: “How old are you now?”
Brent: “Twenty-five.”
Aunt: “You need to get one soon.”
Brent: “OoohKAY.”

Later with my grandma,

Aunt: “Brent still doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.”
Grandma: “Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
Brent: “I don’t know.”
Grandma: “Go out and make one.” <– something that was funny to me was that she legit used the Korean word "to make," brb assembling a realdoll.
Aunt: “What do you think about this girl?” – gesturing towards an actress in the Korean drama they were watching.
Brent: “That’s very helpful thank you.”

I didn’t say “that’s very helpful” but I did say “not really” which they thought was funny because the chick in question was a real fucking virgin about some lame fucking shit. Helpful hint guys, Korean dramas, while they may seem novel, quite frankly aren’t that great.

I just want to clarify that I hadn’t heard of a realdoll until I watched Lars and The Real Girl, which was an OK movie but could have been better. It is also a lot better than the trailer makes it look like. It’s pretty watchable. Don’t ask me how I heard about this movie. Or why I thought it’d be a good idea to watch. Or whether or not it made me cry.

Have I told you guys I’m the only son on my dad’s side of the family? I have four girl cousins on my dad’s side. They couldn’t be less helpful right now. What is the best way to tell my dad that his blood line is gonna die with me?

asdf asks:

Why is your oly lift/back squat ratio so poor? Don’t get me wrong, you’re a strong as fuck dude, but it seems like you should be able to snatch and cj more given your squatting strength.

Why are you such an asshole? Don’t get me wrong, your assessment of my strength is flattering, but it seems like you want me to quit training and spend my new-found free time playing tag with a corgi at a dog park. Which honestly? Honestly? Honestly? Doesn’t sound that bad.

I don’t know man I’m a fucking garbage athlete is that what you want to hear!?!?!?!?? Because that is all I can tell you right now.

Paulo writes:

So I go to the weightlifting club tonight peppering my angus for getting called out for high hip start, bar to close to my shin etc. Fuck. Thoughts on bar position over the foot during the snatch vs/ deadlift? Brb low hip start so I’m like every other fucking lifter. Brb Rip has confused the fuck out of me. Brb my favourite lifters rep a lower start. Brb lascek now looks like low hip start on C&J. mybrainisfulloffuck.jpeg

Thoughts? Stay safe.

Don’t be an asshole. Pull with lower hips and squat high-bar.

Update: Hey guys I got a poll:

[poll id=”2″]

Snatched up to 230lbs, cleaned 290lbs twice and missed the jerk both times. I could be a better athlete. I was being a real gordon fuck about dipping straight up-and-down, first rep went behind me, second rep was out in front and not that strong of an attempt.

Finished up with weighted chins, +75lbs x 4, and 3×5 barbell rows at 225lbs. I could have a stronger upper back.

I watched this episode of mwod last night and tried it out today – harder to do with the snatch, I’m not sure how flat I can get my back with straight legs and still hold onto the bar with the snatch-grip – but I thought it did make some things feel better. I did feel like my pull was made a bit more consistent (I didn’t miss any snatches or cleans today). I also felt like my extension was a little more organized, especially with the clean, glutes and hamstrings felt like they were real on.

Just realized my rhomboids and lower traps feel pretty fatigued right now. It’s fine.

Hey guys – can I be real for just a second?

This is an old video but I like watching it sometimes. Lots of emotion. Who are you when you are challenged? How much of yourself do you put into the things you care about? AC had attempted 505lbs x 5 a couple weeks before and came away with a triple, after a short deload he worked back up to 500lbs and really wanted to put this shit away. I watch this every once in a while when I want to feel like I’m not trying hard enough.

beonick writes:

Brent, did you watch Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon?

I watched both. I enjoyed Dragonball Z more. When I was in middle school and a freshman in high school I’d draw stick figure comics inspired by Dragonball Z.

stone wall writes:

Hey Brent, I think about you when i hear this song…
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix_E60MoYNA]
Does this make me an asshole or a concerned patron? IDK pick one.

That’s very sweet of you, Joe.

James writes:

Brent, did you ever think that maybe Starbucks girl looks forward to you coming in every day for your girly drink? Why would you want to make this girl sad by avoiding her?
So just ask the her out for a boba tea. If she shoots you down, then you can avoid where she works.

Hold on a sec I have to go get a towel and wash my hands, the very suggestion of this makes my palms real fucking clammy. I’m also not going to ask this girl to go get boba tea when there is a real cute Vietnamese girl who works at the boba tea shop? Thereby doubling the systemic stress that I’d have to face? Which would be amplified by the fact that I’m having to legit interact with someone I can’t maintain eye contact with for more than a second or two? What are you, a fucking amateur?

loneranger asks:

brent are u joking about the foot fetish? and hey didnt know u had MULTIPLE girlfriends. not bad, not bad at all.

SO I’VE SUCKED A FEW TOES in my past, is that such a big fucking deal? Is it a fucking crime, dude? So I like giving a few fucking foot rubs before we get to penetration. So I get moderately aroused when I see some chick’s feet in fancy sandals. So my idea of porn is a fucking girl all soaped up in a bathtub shaving her legs – and this is the important part – with her toes pointed. I just don’t see what the big fucking deal is. Does it make me a freak? Should I be on a fucking sex offender list? It’s fucking 2011, man. The world is changing, and how we make love is changing with it.

Nah I’m just fuckin with ya.

On Monday I did some snatching off of boxes, bar a few inches below knee, didn’t do as well as I wanted. Probably could have done better if I took smaller jumps but time was limited. C+Jed up to 275lbs though, which was fine.

Today I clean-and-pressed 165lbs for 5, 5, 5, 4, which is OK. Front squat 355lbs x 2, 365lbs x 1, 355lbs x 2, which could have been better – taking 365lbs for a double would have made this like a 4/10. Some weighted ring dips, +85lbs x 3, finished up with lat raises and barbell curls.

I’m off for the next three days, more than likely I’ll be doing the oly lifts for the next 3 days with some squats, deads, and benching mixed in there. It’s fine.

Rintintin asks:

Brent, why you no share shirtless pic with us?
You share shirtless pic with http://ohgodsheslookingatmebetterjuststicktosquatting.wordpress.com/

I’m sorry but that shit isn’t free. If you want semi-nudes you’ll have to sign up for one of my camshows. Payment’s either through Paypal or you can purchase a minimum value of $25 off my Amazon wishlist. I don’t know what kind of guy you think I am but I don’t just fucking go around flexing, rubbing oil on myself, and administering self-inflicted discipline spanks for charity like some kind of skank. I’ve got class. It’s called a private and discreet billing service. Next time don’t call me unless you’ve got your fucking debit card ready.

really lonely guy says

wow BRENT I did not know your love life was so colorful. I guess I’ll dig a hole and cry in it by myself now.

Sarcasm? Dude I may as well be a fucking virgin. I’ve also regressed socially a few steps recently. I used to make a conscious effort to talk to more girls throughout the day – like when I asked that one chick at the gym in Denton, “So what’s your sign?” Now I just can’t. Like that one real cute that talked to me at Starbucks, I haven’t gone back to that Starbucks since because the thought of talking with her again makes me nervous. It’s fine though. I’ll just write a poem about her lips on a piece of paper, then light it on fire and watch it curl into a dying ball of ash. My roommate will ask what are you doing it smells like smoke in here. I will say nothing it must be the space heater acting weird. I will hold it together long enough for him to leave the room and begin to sob. I will have to go to my bathroom and turn the faucet on, pretending to wash my face, as I desperately try to regain my composure so I can leave the apartment, tell him bye, and go PR my fucking clean-and-jerk.

SilentMachinery asks:

Do you normally squat without a belt? Or were you trying to show off abdoms through the Misc shirt?

Yeah I haven’t worn my belt in a few months now. BRB lifting more without a belt than I ever did when I wore one at a higher bw.

SWOLLE MOFO asks:

I agree with JC that this blog sure has a lot of grade A organic assholes commenting on it. on the other hand, those squats look pretty good. HIGH BAR/LOW BAR hybrid? sure looked like it brent. put another 100 pounds on your squat triple and gain about 6-10 pounds of muscle on your lower body and you might just bring some hope for the USA weighlifting team in the 77 kg class

Can’t tell if you’re making fun of me or not, if you are it’s fine, I’ll just be the guy lying in bed staring up at the ceiling wondering what it’s like to be as cool and admired as Justin Lascek.

The video that dave linked quite frankly can’t be ignored:

I’m proud to say I wouldn’t get along with any of the people in that video.

“Hey Brent, how was your Thanksgiving?”

Let me just say that my dad isn’t opposed to eating at the same restaurant for BOTH lunch and dinner in the same day. Let me also say that he has no problem with asking the waiter to take multiple family pictures on BOTH occasions. Or asking the yogurt servers in the place next door for MORE family pictures. It was fine though.

Over the past couple of days I’ve:

– back squat 415lbs x 3
– snatched up to 235lbs
– c+jed 265lbs, cleaned 275lbs
– snatch-grip DL 355lbs x 5
– benched 270lbs x 3
– back squat 390lbs x 5
– weighted ring dips with +85lbs x 2

Benching 270lbs x 3 would be a lifetime PR. Another 5lbs and I’ll be benching high school football team warm up sets. It’s fine. The ring dips were pretty hard at +85lbs. Going to 85lbs was pretty lame, I used a 35lbs bumper and two 25lbs plates to get to it as every other permutation was not that great. It will be nice to get to an even 90lbs since I can just use the two 45lbs for that.

Rolled glutes and high hamstrings with a lacrosse ball, squatting feels pretty good the past couple days. Thom noted that I could have done a better job with knees out though.

some fucking guy writes:

wait Brent you had a gf before? Just seemed like you made it out to be you were single and lonely all your life. Looks like you’re doing a lot better than many guys out there…

I’ve had a couple gfs/relationships before. It’s hard to consider that they are relevant though. BRB high school doesn’t count. BRB one girl messed around with me and was emotionally dependent and whatnot but made it a point to clarify I was not her BF (for the entirety of the six months we were involved). BRB last gf was long-distance i.e. it may as well have been fucking imaginary. Hey Brent how did you spend time with your long-distance girlfriend when you weren’t visiting each other oh just awkward phone sex and conversations about how our day went. It’s fine.

becky writes:

i love that you friend zoned me before i had the chance to friend zone you. so you got to see what it’s like being on the other side of the equation. how does it feel to be the zone creator? how does it feel to interact with me, as a lady, and not get your tighty whities all in a bunch? how does it feel to not have to worry that you’ll spend the rest of your day walking around with crust in your shorts cuz you got nervous and accidentally squirted?

Honestly? Honestly? HONESTLY? – I feel like a fucking human being for once. BRB don’t have to worry about feelings BRB can talk to a girl without huge spikes in cortisol BRB not going home and staring at the wall wondering why she doesn’t like me trying not to cry while listening to Radiohead. Thanks for being my friend Becky.

Thom writes:

Becky is a harlot.

Bite your tongue, Thomas Vale.

Pressed 185lbs x 2, then another single. I could have pressed this for more reps. Thom Vale, feel free to troll me in the comments.

Front squat 355lbs x 3, 2, 2. I could have done at least one more triple. It’s fine.

I did get in some good weighted ring dips @ +75lbs for a much more legit 5rm i.e. achieved lock-out on the last rep.

The real cute girl from Starbucks I mentioned a few posts ago made conversation with me.

“So are you off today?” she asked.

I told her no, I go to work at 3. I was ABSOLUTELY not prepared for this so I didn’t have a game face on. I imagine I looked real, real surprised. Like, I probably looked like she just caught me jerking off in my car. Which I was. It’s fine.

I asked her if she went to school or anything. She answered that she wasn’t this semester but was starting next. I asked, “So what do you wanna be when you grow up?” Honestly? Honestly? HONESTLY? – I was just struggling to not stammer like a virgin at this point.

I forgot what she answered with, it’s pretty irrelevant, my palms were gushing a lot of water and electrolytes at this point, I’m surprised I’m alive to write this. She told me to have a good day and I said thanks and drove away and never looked back.

I legit got ambushed, and I definitely would not have survived had it been live-fire. Special Forces is not in my future. PKM fire from multiple directions, it’s fine, I’ll cower behind this pile of rocks and merrily shovel myself a little hole to hide in. Achievement unlocked: Expert Shoveler’s Badge.

Bill writes:

Do you have any tips for getting the bar to rack better on a clean? I have off days where it seems like getting to the rack position is pretty stiff and I’m not receiving the bar to the shoulders properly. This also results in some wrist stress and a far less smooth second pull. Thanks for the help.

I do have some tips. Mobilitywod.com. You want to work on external rotation with shoulder in flexion. Joint approximation has some pretty legitimate effects on that almost immediately. The mob that Justin posted a while ago is also good (you can make it easier by standing on a chair, getting a wide grip first, THEN going overhead). I also thought soft-tissue mobbing of the external rotators and gristly bits around the medial scapular borders helped a lot; throw in double-lacrosse ball to t-spine as well for good measure. If you’re feeling adventurous, search mwod.com for “front rack” and have fun.

loneranger asks:

brent do u have the goal of a 350 clean in ur mind in the near future? or right now its just about flexing in the mirror and getting more attention from guys than girls…no joke though. seems like jacked guys get more dudes in the gym to approach them rather than girls, maybe the jacked arms and delts are just too much for the female race.

You would be correct in assuming that soffes, tank, and flexing in the mirror gets you more attention from guys than girls. More guys have cold-approached me at the gym – wait, let me take that back, ONLY guys have cold-approached me at the gym, ever. Well OK, one time this trashy-looking older lady praised me for back squatting 355lbs but I don’t really count that one.

I would like to c+j 350lbs in the future, I can’t really predict when it’s gonna happen though. I could if I ran a cycle of nandrolone.

Brian, who is Asian, asks:

So I noticed you were around 175-180ish before (I think). Did you mostly eat paleo to drop weight? And did you cut out rice?

Brian first let me say that while I hate most Asians, you seem like an OK guy. Do you have a fobby accent? We can still be friends if you do, I just need to know.

I actually cut weight before I even took Paleo seriously. I ate a lot of chicken and broccoli and used a George Foreman grill to eat chuckeye, ground beef patties, and the occasional 8 or 9oz filet mignon. I eventually transitioned to carb-cycling on training and non-training days with mainly rice but also ate sandwiches, breakfast foods like pancakes/waffles (strictly for breakfast mind you), and various kinds of Asian take-out. Just so we’re clear, I was cutting weight because I had a girlfriend at the time and I wanted her vag to get wet when she saw me naked. After I didn’t have a girlfriend I kept carb-cycling because I now had nothing better to do than flex in the mirror.

I recomped a little more when I ate basically (grain-fed) beef and sweet potatoes 50-75% of the time and some kind of high-carb food (pre-workout). Then I recomped even more when I started eating grass-fed beef. My training also sucked initially during these phases because when I cooked more I was eating less total calories per day. I’ve re-titrated my cooking/eating though so I’m not walking around at sub-160lbs on accident now.

I still eat rice, boba tea, and Starbucks coffee. Saul hates me for it. It’s fine.

becky writes:

hey brent, honey darling, please answer these three questions.
1. will you eat some of the paleo sweet potato pie i will be making for thanksgiving? it will feature the fetus-sized sweet potatoes we got at the farmers market and crushed up pecans and hazelnuts mixed with local raw honey.
2. will you eat some of the bacon wrapped pears i will be baking? they are like meat candy. i can use the slankers bacon saul ordered for me. if you like, i can make them crispy or soft. however you like your bacon.
3. will you eat some of the sausage and chinese yam hash i will be frying up? i will use the slankers sausage saul ordered for me and my very special purple chinese yams. and i will top it off with organic cinnamon, of course.
ok bye.

Yes, yes, yes. I would like to try both crispy and soft for the bacon-wrapped pears. Or whichever you recommend. The sweet potato pie sounds really fucking good oh god.

Benched 245lbs for 5, 5, 4, 3 on Friday. Was OK. Better than last time. Could have done more reps. Could have done more exercises this workout.

On Saturday night I:

– power snatched and snatched from the hang up to 200lbs, snatched + snatched from the hang up to 215lbs.
– cleaned 265lbs
– high-bar back squat 415lbs x 1, 365lbs x 5
– clean pulled 350lbs x 3
– weighted chins, +75lbs x 4
– barbell rowed 225lbs
– reverse hypers, curls

Could have c+jed more and squat 415lbs for more reps. I’ve been neglecting back squat volume and should prob do some of that next week.

VPVG called me at work today so if she’s read the blog she doesn’t care. Or, she forgot about looking up the blog to begin with, which is more likely, and is fine. While I was on the phone with her I looked down and saw that my scrub pants were on inside-out, and I was six hours into the shift. No one noticed except for one girl at the front desk, who didn’t mention it to me because she thought I wanted them that way. I guess I give the impression that I’m some Napoleon Dynamite fuck head carrying tots in his fucking pockets.

Cristina said I am this guy because I like doing cam shows.

The Q&A is real fucking long today so

Read more »

I snatched 215lbs off of blocks below the knee on Wednesday, cleaned 265lbs and missed the jerk. This happened in less than 30mins.

On Thursday (today) I snatched 230lbs and c+jed 265lbs, successfully this time. This happened in about 30mins as well. I hit 245lbs, 335lbs, 385lbs, and 415lbs x 2 high-bar in under 10 minutes. I could have gotten to the gym earlier. I could have squat more reps. I could have eaten more solid food post-workout (how much solid food did you eat post-workout, Brent? NO SOLID FOOD POST-WORKOUT. 50G PROTEIN SHAKE WITH 50G MALTODEXTRIN, DIDN’T EAT UNTIL 8 HOURS LATER. IT’S FINE.).

Saul, hours next week will be mostly regular, they will be closed Thanksgiving Day and the day after but otherwise mostly regular hours of operation. Honestly though, I wish I could get a pump in Thanksgiving Day before eating. I suppose I could bang out some weighted chins or pull ups in my room. Josh, could I come over for a workout?

gumbo asks:

Brent – where do you lift? Do they have a drop-in fee?
I’ll be in Dallas for Festivus and will need a location for furtive, sloppy power cleans.

Isystems Gym in Carrollton. Should be able to google it. It’s pretty cool. Let’s hang out man. Dallas is kind of a drive though, do you know where in Dallas you’ll be quartered?

Oldman writes:

I’m currently in South Korea so I’ll have to take a rain check on the boba tea. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be back. I’ll train with you when I get back into town, but it has been a long lay off.

Bro, seriously? – if you just don’t want to hang out with me that’s fine, but don’t make up these fucking outlandish excuses for why you can’t and expect me to believe them. I’m a grown fucking man dude, I’ll be OK if you tell me you don’t want to hang. What, you don’t think I’ve been rejected before? You don’t think I can take brutal honesty? Nigga pls I was born rejected. Don’t fucking flatter yourself, you’re not giving me anything new.

Djay writes:

Hey brent, I actually have a legit question for you.
why’d you start squatting high bar instead of low bar? Because it’s more specific to olympic weightlifting or what?
That may seem like a stupid question but I just recall Rippetoe remarking that he thought olympic weightlifters could benefit from low bar as much as anyone else, and wondered what your experience has been.

lol lol lol

The OL community definitely gives a shit about where Rip thinks the bar should be positioned in a back squat. Go ahead. Why don’t you ask them. Go to the Arnold next year, walk up to someone like Glenn Pendlay and say, “Hey Glenn, don’t you think Jon North would total more if he moved the bar down his back two inches when he squats?” Seriously. Just ask him. Or you can talk to Kyle Pierce at LSUS Shreveport. You can say, “Hey Kyle Pierce, Rip says your athletes don’t deadlift enough. He says your athletes are in the business of lifting jelly-dick weight with aesthetically-pleasing grace and not in the business of just getting stronger.” Legit. Say it to him. Say it with a straight face. It’ll be worth it.

And honestly? Honestly? HONESTLY? – my personal experience has been that I haven’t low-bar back squat in a few months and I hit life-time PRs in the snatch and c+j after having not PRed in a pretty long time. BRB my posterior chain is wasting away because my hamstrings aren’t contracting isometrically to maintain my back angle. BRB if I press more my jerk will go up. BRB if I miss too many times squat snatching I should just split snatch (nevermind addressing gleno-humeral internal rotation deficit, that wouldn’t improve bar path or anything, nah you look great shuffling your feet snatching 30% less than your best 1rm).

I’m over it, man. The only people who care about this argument are on the SS boards and it’s a shrinking universe over there.

CMOENY WRITES:

Radiohead is the greatest at getting a bunch of overly emo fans to proclaim them as the best band ever and a gift bestowed upon earth by God himself, sure.
They’re also the best at creating a bunch of dickless virgin dudes, too.
Though really, if you go to coffee shops daily, and you like radiohead, and you aren’t getting laid, you’re not telling enough people you like radiohead.

BRB HATING A BAND FOR THEIR FANS
BRB IGNORING THE DEPTH AND VERSATILITY OF THE ARTISTS
BRB HAVE YOU NOT FUCKING HEARD JOHNNY GREENWOOD GO HARD??????
BRB DENYING THAT “BULLETPROOF (I WISH I WAS),” “CREEP,” “SLOWLY,” “NO SURPRISES,” “TRUE LOVE WAITS” AND COUNTLESS OTHERS MAKE YOU WANT TO FUCKING KILL YOURSELF
BRB RADIOHEAD IS MY ONLY FRIEND (NEXT TO LINKIN PARK) YOU FUCK

No but really I can understand your viewpoint. I like them a lot though, I don’t know what you want me to do. One of their biggest things is the ambiguity of their lyrics means any fuck head piece of shit can say “this song was written for me and my life experiences,” I’m sorry that I need to feel like killing myself to function????

Hey guys,

I overhead pressed 165lbs for 4, 4, 5, 4, and 3 today. It is stupid that I got 5 reps on the 3rd set, I suspect that I was pushing some reps out in front on the first two sets which prob didn’t help my cause.

Tested my 1rm pull up and worked up to +75lbs and +90lbs.

Saul did a lot more:

Hit a sloppy +75lbs 3rm on ring dips, didn’t really achieve legit lockout on the third rep.

Did some barbell rows at 215lbs.

After that Saul, Becky, and I got a FAT fucking delt pump doing lateral and rear-delt raises. I also super-setted a few db hammer curls in there.

I was all up in this chick’s business today on accident. She was with a trainer doing some circuit bullshit. There is only one green resistance band which I like to use for my mobility shit and I saw it strung up on a cable cross-over. I started to take it down and the trainer slowed my roll real fast on that since they were using it for assisted pull ups. Later I was doing the best shoulder mob ever and I saw them standing nearby waiting for something mid-way through my set. I realized I was directly underneath the dip bar, which she had been using 5-10mins prior. I looked like a real piece of shit in soffes doing stupid stretches and fucking over this chick’s workout. BRB on the same level as the guy who walks ON your platform as you’re performing an oly lift.

Also met this dude who was doing some high-rep deadlifts. He was pretty OK, friendly, took some interest in Saul doing t-bar rows (real fucking seriously) –

– and seemed like an all right dude. I don’t think we set a very good first impression though because while we were just talking about where he used to train and his former experience at a shittier gym Saul got up because he was ready for our second set of synchronized rear-delt flyes so while he was in mid-sentence I clapped my hands and said “YOU GUYS READY? LET’S DO THIS” and the three of us proceeded to do rear-delt flyes, as if this set of db isolation movements SIMPLY COULD NOT WAIT.

beonick writes:

Brent, how much hentai do you watch a day?

I’m more of a lift-and-carry kind of guy.

oldman writes:

Brent lately there seems to be a lot of hate on here for you. None of these bro’s are posting their numbers and hide behind their keyboards. If you would ever like to discuss this in person we can meet up at the boba tea place nearest to you. I can be in my wrestling singlet from college (it fits a little tight now) or my lifting singlet. Your choice.

Why don’t we meet up? Would you like to train with us? Or vice versa, if we can drop-in at Authentic Strength (preferably for free, though I’d be willing to pay a drop-in if it was like less than $10. One of the coaches there def thinks I’m a loser piece of shit and I’m interested in reinforcing that). Either singlet would be fine for a boba tea setting – should I wear my singlet or is the soffe + tank OK?

Penn writes:

Lifting Platforms, Rings, Reverse Hyper, and Monolift at your gym?
Fuck you, Brent. Is anyone at that gym squatting over 600 out of the Mono?

It’s a great gym for powerlifters. Esp if you lift equipped. Seems like 50% of the people who go there pull like 600lbs+. The bumpers could be kilos and there could be at least one more platform but it’s pretty good otherwise than that. There could be less hot chicks there, that would help my anxiety quite a bit.

Ryan writes:

Are your hips always that high when you clean? That looked all back to me.

It probably was all back, if that’s unacceptable you may have to contact my customer service department.

cmoney, if you fucking have something to say about the greatest band of all time why don’t you fucking say it bro? I’m all ears man.

On Friday I benched 265lbs x 3 all reps paused, front squat 345lbs for two triples, and did weighted dips +65lbs for 4 and could not achieve lockout on the 5th rep. This was a pretty good workout, esp since I finished it in 45mins. If I had more time I would have gone after another set of front squats.

On Saturday I shoveled a lot of shit, which was disappointing since I was training with Becky and Saul. I missed 215lbs snatch a bunch and missed a 255lbs clean. I did some weighted chins though, +75lbs for a few sets of 3, some reps were better than others, and some bent over rows, 205lbs x 7 or so, so it was semi-productive. Just felt off, I can typically power snatch 195lbs and I had to squat snatch it, and my shoulders felt tight so going overhead didn’t feel great, my pull also didn’t feel right.

Today (Sunday) I did a lot better and managed to hit some PRs.

240lbs snatch is a +5lbs PR, 300lbs clean is a +10lbs PR. I had attempted a 290lbs c+j and missed the jerk behind, but the clean felt easy enough that I felt like hitting a PR there would be OK. My power snatches and power cleans also felt pretty good, I attempted PRs for both at 210lbs and 265lbs but couldn’t pull them high enough.

I also PRed my muscle snatches, which help with the snatch a lot more when I do them from the floor. I’ve been doing them from the hang until tonight. I worked up to 55k/120lbs x 3 then 135lbs x 1.

RDLed 350lbs x 6, 5, 5, did some curls and back extensions.

That dinner with all those chicks was canceled on Saturday, I’m over it. It’s fine, I haven’t been wanting to eat Salvadorian food for the past six fucking months or anything. I have an idea, why don’t I go by myself. Hi yes I’d like a table. For one please. No, in fact I don’t have any fucking friends who would like to join me to eat the food here. Yes, the secluded table in the corner’s fine – I wouldn’t want your other patrons to be disturbed by my fucking corpse after I’ve killed myself once I’m done eating alone for yet another night.

Something I’ve considered is that there are a lot of people I know IRL who may be reading this blog. It isn’t hard to find – if you google “brent kim blog” the main page and another post come up as the top two results. The blog’s also been officially compromised as of two weeks ago or so, when I was on the phone with VPVG and mentioned putting something on my blog as a joke.

VPVG: You DO have a blog don’t you?
Brent: What makes you think I have a blog.
VPVG: You just seem like the type of person who would have one. You have one! I’m going to find it.
Brent: OK YES I have a blog.
VPVG: *excited squeal* I’m going to find it. You can’t hide it from me.

There hasn’t been a restraining order yet so she’s either forgotten about it, is indifferent, or thinks it’s funny and tells her friends about the dickless virgin who writes haikus about how pretty she is and doesn’t have a life outside of flexing in the mirror and rubbing himself with lacrosse balls. I’ve come to terms with all of these outcomes. You can tell because I added +5lbs to my best snatch and +10lbs to my best clean. My angus is peppered.

Matt writes:

Carb load – bitches love the bloat. +1 for the chin session before hand. Might want to rub one out before hand so you can think straight and if by some chance you hug this girl you don’t poke her with your dick(maybe that will be a +/take ir or leave it) You’re welcome.

Matt you clearly slay a lot of pussy, do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to?

oldman writes:

I haven’t had it in years, but I don’t think there is anyway it’s paleo. I think Brent just goes to these beverage shops to check out chicks he’ll never talk to. Plus about 99% of the time the chicks working at the Boba place will be asian. Starbucks is where he goes when he wants to confront white/other race women.

re: the chicks, this is 100% correct.

I was at a grocery store and saw this cute chick in one of the check out lanes. I got in her line and she said “sir you can use one of the self-checkout lanes if you like, they are still open.” I said OK and checked myself out. This was analogous to my entire life.