A good and difficult question. As I’ve said my goals are nebulous, so the short answer is “a little bit of both.”
I want to be big and strong; secondarily, I’d like to be reasonably lean. I have a full and demanding life so the strict discipline that would be required for me to have, and keep, a 6-pack is beyond me atm. It could become a goal in the future but it’s not one now.
A good short term goal is strict pressing 135 for reps.
And an overarching goal: don’t become crippled!!
And, always be able to keep up with the kids.
Mine range from 6 to still-in-utero, so I need to be energetic for a lot more years!
Personally, I think this is a good mindset. I’m in the same boat. Stronger=bigger=stronger. Not being crippled definitely would help with both of those lol.
Sounds like you have the home/gym balance down. I don’t have kids yet and sometimes still find it tough to find time for me. Props for you man for finding a way.
As far as the press goal, with 90x2 being your overwarmup, that puts your e1rm at roughly 110-115 ish? You’re getting very close man. Also, 80x16 is a good amount of work as well.
The way I found is by waking up so early, none of the kids hear me getting ready and leaving for the gym, and I can have time to finish my workout and shower before work.
Afternoon workouts might be better from an energy level perspective, but I can’t control my afternoon schedule so I wouldn’t be able to stick to a routine.
You got it! Pre-appendectomy (pre:a-lot-of-things lol) I hit a single at 130 iirc. But it wasn’t solid and things have deteriorated since.
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Time and consistency. You’re close, it’ll come.
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10/1, Thursday
Ab wheel, 1x10, from knees
Band pullaparts, lots
sprints
8x about 110 meters each.
Took less rest between sprints than last time, total time 13:36.
10/2, Friday
GMM Cycle 4, Lower 1
Squat
Warmup;
Overwarmup to 205x1;
AMRAP: 165x18
60 rest, then AMRAP: 165x8
SLDL
Overwarmup to 225x1;
AMRAP: 185x20
Split Squat
50# EZbar in front rack position.
Both feet on floor.
5x12.
Legs felt like jelly after this!
The 18-rep squat felt embarrassingly horrible. I had hit 20 reps last time, with 10lbs less, and I really wanted to do it this time. After rep 7 I was taking like 3 rapid breaths per rep… my legs felt so tight going down was harder than going up… I suck at squatting. But doing this will make me better.
So far I’ve hit 20 reps on every SLDL weight. Grip was challenging this time.
The split squats haven’t progressed at all. It took me almost 30 minutes to get through the SS and was absolutely miserable the whole time. Upping weight or reps, or decreasing rest time (which starts at 2 mins and works its way up to 2:30 between sets) is off the table for now.
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10/3, Saturday
Family walk, bicycle training for the kids, so some jogging and fastwalking.
Repeated the 220m sprint in 40.6 seconds. Not nearly the improvement I expected but it’s a good challenge.
12 ab rollouts and a bunch of band pullaparts.
I’d definitely recommend straps or learning hook grip, it’d suck to stop progressing just because of grip strength. Grip takes a while to play catch up in my experience. I try not to hook grip just because of how much it hurts, but it may be something to look into, and it’ll work for DL off the floor if you don’t want to do mixed.
High rep squats are soul suckers!
10/5 Friday
Gmm cycle 4, Upper 1
bench press
Overwarmup to 175x1;
AMRAP 155x15; bar moved sooo slooow
60 sec rest, then
AMRAP 155x6;
incline press
3/50 method. 95#
20,15,16. Total 51.
Bar continued to move very slowly but at least it moved.
bb row
155x8,8
125x12,12
Dont increase weight next time. Took some body English to get these done.
pulldowns
3/50 method
Close neutral grip
140# 17,12,13. Total 42.
bb curl
3/50 method, 65# ezbar*
Uncertain of the bar’s exact weight. Estimate 25lbs. Previously used the one-piece bars which were clearly marked.
20,15,15 total 50.
bonus work
Very quickly did some side raises and tricep pushdowns.
10/6, Tuesday
Some band pullaparts
10xSprints. Further sprinting and shorter walking distance than last time.
10/7, GMM cycle 4 lower 2.
front squats
Overwarmup to 165x1.
Amrap 135x12;
60 sec, then Amrap 135x7
leg press
3/50 method, 315
20,15,15 total 50
RFESS
Bodyweight only
5x10 each leg
A lot of suck here today.
The FS main set was no better than previous workout, and by rights should have only hit 8 reps… I was gasping for air and f–ing miserable under the bar.
At least I had the chance to redeem on the 50% set, where I only beat last week by a single grindy rep. Felt like a puss.
Then the 3/50 leg press… every set was rest-paused to hit enough reps to complete 50. Just so I can feel like I made some progress.
Then the RFESS. I couldn’t do 20 like normal… I did 10s, but took a lot less rest than normal so its progress in a way…
edit just saw a typo “took a lot less test” which should have said “took a lot less rest” so that’s pretty funny. If I were taking drugs I’d be more embarrassed of the weights I’m using.
10/9/2020
Friday
GMM cycle 4 upper 2
press
Overwarmup to 95x1
AMRAP 85x16
60 sec rest;
AMRAP 85x5
dips
3/50 method. 10#. Timed rest 90sec between sets. 20,15,16=51.
db row
3/50 method. 65#. Timed rest 90sec between sets. 20,15,15=50.
chins
5x6 with 90 sec rests. Various grips.
db curl
3/50 method, 30#, Timed rest 90sec between sets. 20,15,16=51.
Bonus work btn press, never done it before. 5,5,5,5,10 on empty bar.
I’ve noticed that making progress on 3/50 sets incentivises longer rest periods. Workouts taking too long. So for 3/50 sets today, I kept weight the same from last week but enforced rest times.
Save The Date:
Tendonitis started creeping back in to my left forearm on Thursday, October 8th.
Sucks. But it’s not debilitating yet.
10/12/2020 Monday
GMM Cycle 5 Lower 1
Squat
Overwarmup to 215x1.
AMRAP: 175x20
60 sec rest, then
AMRAP: 175x6
SLDL
Overwarmup to 245x1;
AMRAP: 205x16
Split Squats
Both feet on floor, 50# EZbar in front rack position
5x12 per leg.
Bonus work
2 rounds of 20 each: Decline situps, GHD extension, leg raise (on decline).
2 sets of seated calf raises.
That 20-rep squat felt freaking great. I was ready to quit at 10 reps, but kept telling myself I could get just 2 more. It really is mental.
Limited rest during the split squats to about 2 minutes per set. It continues to be a challenging movement. On the plus side, I had zero knee pain during this whole session, and I suspect the SS and RFESS are a big part of knee health.
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I didn’t sprint last Thursday, as my wife helpfully pointed out that I’ve been going hard and needed the sleep. Same applies for today.
I spent about an hour sunday and an hour laat night digging a trench in iron-hard clay. Definitely hard conditioning work and not great for my burgeoning tendonitis.
10/14/2020
Wednesday
GMM Cycle 5 Upper 1
Bench Press
Overwarmup to 185x1;
AMRAP 165x12;
60 sec rest, then
AMRAP 165x6
Incline press
3/50 method, 90 sec rest limit between sets, 105#
16,10,10 - 36 total. Rest limit made a big difference.
BB Row
155x8,8;
125x12,12;
90 sec rest between all.
Cable Pulldown
3/50 method, 90 sec rest limit, close neutral grip.
140#
18,12,13=43 total.
BB curls
70# on EZ bar. 3/50 method. 90 sec rest limit.
16,10,10 =36 reps.
Bonus work
3x10 standing BTN press with empty bar
2 sets of rope pushdowns.
Limiting rest made a big difference to my performance on 3/50 method sets. Reducing rest is definitely as meaningful a progression as adding total reps or weight, although I don’t know if it affects the same “energy systems”.
Tendonitis was bad this morning. I woke up with it hurting, and surprisingly, the exercise it impeded the most was bench press. I need a confident grip with rock-solid wrist to unrack the bar, and the sharp pain down my forearm when doing so threw me off.
I need to solve this - again - and a CS shot is out of the question until January per the doctor.
Exercises targeted at strengthening the area are either a good idea or a bad idea, and I’m not sure which!
Where is the pain exactly?
@boilerman thanks for asking.
The pain is in the inside left forearm. Where all the muscles responsible for gripping and wrist flexion come together on the Common Flexor Tendon, which then ties to the Medial Epicondyle. (That’s the bony bump on the side of your elbow).
This is the third time I’ve had this. It gets debilitating to where I can barely use my left hand for opening a jar, doorknob, or washing my face.
The past two times, I got a CS shot in the medial epicondyle, which kicked in within a couple days and had me feeling totally normal. But you can only get 2 per year because they can have side effects of tissue damage. I can’t get another shot until January, and may not want it because of the risks.
Before the second shot, I had an MRI to see if there was an underlying issue. Diagnosis: no tendon damage, no appreciable scar tissue, just “inflammation”. I don’t really understand this, it seems that inflammation causes pain to which the body responds with more inflammation.
After the second shot, I started including “forearm PT” at the ends of most workouts. I did wrist curls, grip training, reverse writs curls, pronation/supination… and now the pain is back.
Since I worked out upper body yesterday despite the pain, it’s ferocious today. Popped 2 ibuprofen the second I got out of bed. It hurts at night even.
I am committed to seeing GMM through at least Cycle 6, which means I have 3 more all-out upper body days, pain be damned. But that will aggravate it even more, I know.
After that, I’m considering limiting upper body training to military press only to give it a rest. Not sure, and open to advice.
If you read all that, sorry for being so long-winded! There’s a lot of frustration there lol.
After a little googling, it seems like you’re talking about “golfers elbow”? I seem to have something similar, or the same exact thing. My father has it, and so does my brother.
I think our issues with it are from overuse. My brothers a roofer, dad chops wood (pretty frequently, for being almost 60) and I notice it most often after roofing or using a heavy hammer/lifting cans filled with shingles, or after using heavy pipe wrenches at work. Back when I was roofing for my job, I’d wake up with shooting pain up my forearm on the verge of tears almost every night. It definitely sucks and I feel for you man.
One thing you may want to try (and I did the same, and it has helped immensely) is eliminate barbell curls, or any sort of pulling movement where your elbow moves and your hands are in a fixed position. I only curl with bands now and I haven’t had “that” feeling in months, other than the past few times I have done roofing.
One other thing you could try is sleeping with your arms straight down by your sides. Get a cloth elbow or knee brace and shove a tennis ball down it and into the crease of your elbow so you can’t bend your arm. My dad swears by this method.
Just wanted to add I’m not qualified whatsoever, nor have I been checked out by a doctor for the issue. What you’re dealing with just sounds extremely similar to what I have had in the past… So please take the advice with a grain of salt. Also, the injury and rehab section may have some tips on how to avoid aggravating the issue in regards to what you are doing in the program. Might be worth a shot posting in there.
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Thank you for all this.
Yes, “Golfer’s elbow” and “Medial epicondylitis” are the correct names for this.
Fascinating that it seems to run in your family - maybe it’s genetic, or maybe you’re all just really hard workers!
Overuse is almost certainly the case. I can’t get away from it - always picking up kids (3@40+lbs each), doing heavy yard work (cutting trees and brush, and digging - lots of digging), etc.
I always thought it was weird that I feel it more at night, so this may be no coincidence?
I take this to mean, allow the wrist to rotate during elbow flexion? So would DB curls be OK?
And I think definitely pullups are a huge part of this. Before I started this log, I think, I was doing tons of pull-ups - like 50-75 in a single session - and some weighted pullups. That’s when the condition first appeared. and I LOVE pullups.
I appreciate all this. Once GMM Cycle 6 is complete I’m going to reorganize training around helping this heal, somehow… Probably a 2-3 week break from any pulling, then just straight-arm (deadlifts and RDLs)? And I’ll need to reach a stopping point on the landscaping work at home lol…
In my experience, I felt the pain the most during BB curls, supinated pull ups and push ups.
That’s what I’ve found. I personally haven’t tried DB curls yet because the bands work well enough for me and I’m afraid of it flaring up again. I have minimal pain while doing them with bands (other than the pain of going to failure and a pump lol) and zero pain otherwise. I would guess solely using DBs or bands for curling could be helpful to try for a few weeks and at least see if it alleviates some of the pain?
Good luck lol.
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