3 of the kids are sick, looks like flu. Was up giving fever reducers and tissues last night. Concerned i might get it. I don’t have enough plates at home to hit tomorrow’s deadlift, so i better not be coughing in the morning.
Worst case, I’ll tape DBs to the bar for that top single.
Started reading Keys to Progress, looking forward to some solid advice/perspectives in there.
Wife complimented my thicker neck yesterday. I was unbelievably validated lol. Now motivated to make even more progress there.
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Make that 4 kids with flu. Wife and i are at max effort caring for them and trying to keep ourselves from getting cut down.
I don’t usually do meal pics but this is a good one. Slow cooker black beans, 1lb dry; 2 cups (dry) of rice. 3.5lbs of chicken thighs.
Gonna mix it all together into a massive casserole and top with bread crumbs.
Status so far:
All done:
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This made me smile so much. So many times I have a workout in my head and in reality it ends up very different. Especially when the sandbag is involed.
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11/14/2022 Monday
Deadlifted 405. Goals done. Lifetime PR.
Up much of the night once again taking care of my sick kids.
Deadlifted, worked my way up to the day’s target of 375 (lifetime PR tie), and decided to go for it. Loaded 405 gripped and ripped.
It was the ugliest deadlift since Homo Erectus first picked a fallen tree up off his stuck goat. My hips straightened and my back didn’t. Bar got stuck on my right kneecap/bunched up sweatpants. Had to shimmy my whole body to clear the jam. But I finally got it up, locked out, felt like a freaking BOSS.
Supersetted a bunch of sets of 3 ab rollouts during DL. Afterward, tons of pullups, back extensions, and squats 135 x 5, 5, 15. (was gonna do 5x5 but got the last 3 sets in one to save time.) Sled push, sled pull. Shower.
It’s a busy day today but if I get the chance I’ll reflect a bit on goals and the way forward.
A pivotal thing here though was the takewaway I got from John McCallum’s Keys to Progress, and much of what Pwn says, that finally sunk in: People lift heavy things because NOBODY TOLD THEM THEY COULDN’T. I have been limited so much by knowing/believing I’m weak, fragile, can only add a few pounds or I’ll throw my back out, F*CK THAT I just added 30 lbs to my max deadlift with an effort of will.
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Hilarious, awesome and inspiring. All goals achieved, you can stop lifting now.
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Thanks mate, indeed so and I plan to stop now!
Haha no, I did think about walking out of the gym after the lift though. But I have had that week-long back pain before and considering what my spine did during the lift, figured some therapy was in order. So might as well finish the session.
So far, so good - I don’t think I damaged anything.
Goals? Hmm. I guess just keep plugging away until 315 squat and 405 deadlift are routine lifts that I could pull off in any session, just like 135 press and 225 bench are already ( i hope).
A serious re-evaluation is in order now though. Maybe more volume, maybe a deload, maybe a focus on power cleans or sandbag stuff or grip or…
TBH 5/3/1 Morning Star was a lot of fun and really “fit” me, might revert to that.
Will figure it out as I go!
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Not sure I agree with ‘serious re-evaluation’ when are just hit two big goals within the last couple of weeks, but I understand the sentiment.
In any case, I like the idea of - all things being equal - making certain lifts and numbers trivial…like, I can do X or Y any time I go to the gym. This is actually very much aligned with how I see things.
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Hell yeah brother, nice work
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well done on the 4 plate deadlift mate. Does that mean that 1234 are all ticked off ? If so are you joining me on a quest to 2 3 4 5 ?
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Yes to the first part, no to the second.
come on mate, you are a young man and have years to catch me up. LOL
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This is TLDR stream-of-consciousness. Don’t read unless you’re me.
Finally have a few minutes to sit and think. Feeling a bit of the ennui that comes with achieving a long-time goal.
Short-term training goals I think should still center around the 1-2-3-4, but now more about making them easy enough that I can do them any time. With squats I think it was more of a confidence thing, though strength DEFINITELY has room to go up. With deadlift I absolutely need more strength and rigidity. With 405 I basically folded over the top of my belt on the way up - legs were strong enough, I guess that’d be spinal erectors? Then again I was able to eventually straighten out… don’t know enough about physiology to interpret that.
Bench and Press are fine, obviously always need more practice but I don’t have to prepare to hit those numbers.
If that’s the goal, then sticking with what I’ve been doing but perhaps more disciplined about all 4 together now instead of just one of the lifts, for the next few weeks, should have me where I need to be.
Thing is, there are other things in life I like to do. I have other hobbies. And there are other health/fitness goals other than 1rm poundages on the big 4. I set the 1-2-3-4 goal a long time ago as an arbitrary milestone to keep me on the right track long-term; it’s served its purpose; what’s next?
19 months ago when my last baby was born, i looked a lot better than I do now. Reality has changed - even less sleep is the norm; even less time and energy to prepare meals, eat, and train; plus I’m older. And the Dr said I should lower my cholesterol (though there’s a big caveat around that, healthier fat choices are definitely in order).
What do I want, how do I get there? Simo suggested joining him on a yearslong quest (or would be for me anyway) for 2-3-4-5 plates… I’m not sure that’s the direction I need to go. Lean, fast, agile - these things matter too. And training can’t be/won’t be the center of my life.
The 200lb sandbag has also taught me that you can also work really, really hard without a gym and without plates. Still a LOT of room for goal setting, and progress, there.
Enough for now! The short-term goal is already known, the next goal can be set later.
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FWIW: I hate 1 rep maxes for just about everything outside competitions. Much prefer 3 or 5 Rep maxes. If you want a slightly more in reach goal that’s similar to your current deal, why not do 1-2-3-4 for 5 reps?
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I liked reading the brain dump around the goals and what the next direction may be. I like to think of training goals, as short, long and also principles. The principles are what underpin what you do, so for me that is ‘not being a fat dad’ (you’d have to go back to the beginning of my log to get the true meaning behind this one). So anything I do training wise I can always sense check it will be aligned to that principle. If it isn’t then I dont do it.
Next is the long term goals, deadlift 500, squat 400, run a 4 min mile, strongman comp, go to nationals, what ever it is you see as a major achievement. It is something to inspire and make you work towards, something that stretches the rubber band and creates tension. I still think the long term needs to be achievable but it should be a stretch.
Then the short term goals. Complete X program, drop some fat, grow some muscle, carry the sandbag 100 yards, hit 100 for 3 reps, Rep PRs. There are too many to name and they are all very individual.
I think there is benefit in choosing a single short term goal and focusing hard and I mean hard on that goal. For you right now that could be 405 x 3 deadlift. Which could be achieved with some good programming and focus in a fairly short time frame (weeks). If you want an example just Look at the progress @T3hPwnisher made with his barrel overhead when he was focused for a comp, The impact of this was also that his overall strength went up with it and that just made him more awesome and harder to kill, so I am guessing aligned to his overall principles of training. (notice I said guessing as I am not speaking for Pwn here but merely using some poetic licence and his example to show a point).
So take some time to think about your underlying principles for training, a good long term goal (be specific) and some short term ones you want to tick off (one at a time).
Good luck with it mate.
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Definitely appreciate being used as that example. A reach goal with a TIME FRAME is key. I had 12 weeks to add 75lbs to my keg press. I was LASER focused on that goal, and was basically living keg press. I ate keg press, trained keg press, slept keg press, dreamed keg press. I transformed my body into all that could press kegs. And I got the biggest and strongest I had been in my life, primarily because, when you get good at taking an object that doesn’t want to be pressed overhead and press it over your head, you get big and strong all over.
I remember just visualizing how huge I’d have to be to reach that goal. I’d breathe deep into my lats and feel my body growing. I ate like it was my job. It was intense.
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Love that explanation mate and it really does demonstrate the benefit of having a short term goal that you fully embrace. I am sure more people could accomplish great things or effect great personal change if they were to chase something with the same single mindedness.
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11/16/2022 Wednesday
Press focused day, in garage.
Edit: first, 3x5 front squats 135. Forgot to log it.
Strict press 5x95, 3x115, 3x135 (Rep PR or Rep PR Tie), 1x135, 1x135
Superset with
Pullups 5xBW, 5x25, 5x50, 3x50, 3x50
(Last couple reps of the 5x50 were a little short but close enough to count!)
BTN press 3x10x85
superset with
Chinups 3x10 (underhand grip).
Barbell rows
3x135, 3x185, 1x225 and hit a wall. Out of time anyway.
Hope to get back out later today and do some lower back work and neck work.
Edit: got back out and did some reverse hypers off my bench and neck training.
Later, wrist curls during tv time w wife.
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@atlas13 I really appreciate the goal suggestion you put out - 1-2-3-4 for 5 reps each. Not necessarily adopting that as the new target yet, but it’s SMARTer than “make 1-2-3-4 for 1 rep be trivial”. It’s more specific and measurable. Definitely achievable, though will take a lot of work. As @T3hPwnisher mentioned though SMART goals need a T for Time-bound at the end to keep you focused.
At this stage there are as I mentioned other priorities that prevent me from living and breathing my lifts, as would be required to meet a challenging goal. They are beyond the scope of this log perhaps but I need to do some thinking.
@simo74 as always you’re so insightful and helpful. The key as you pointed out is to have a long-term trend or goal based on fundamental principles, and then short term goals that are always aligned with the long-term, even if they’re a bit tangential to it.
No time right now to keep introspecting and rambling. Of note, I pressed 135 for 3 reps today and that was either a rep PR or a rep PR tie without a major focus having been put on the press the past few weeks. Which makes the 5-rep milestone seem quite achievable there, especially if taken one lift at a time.
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Remember you don’t need to keep up this ultra specific, low rep, high weight training style forever.
You hit these PRs after building up your base with “normal” training for awhile, then focusing your effort, or “peaking” to hit some new maxes.
Now you’re ready to go back and rebuild your base. Only with heavier weights than last time. 5/3/1 stuff is great for this. You go back to the effective training that build you up before, only with higher training maxes this time.
Then when you’re rebuild even more bad-ass, you “peak” again, building to new, bigger heights.
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11/18/2022 Friday
Front squat: 3x5x140
Superset with BPAs, 3x20, heavier band - actually had to work for these
Squat: 5s Pro C2W2
5x195, 5x225, 5x250
Superset with 3x3 pullups
Squat bonus reps: 1x275, 1x295, 1x295 felt pretty solid.
SLDL 3x8x225
Superset with Incline bench 3x8x135
Sled push, 3 laps there-and-back. It’s a super low-handle sled. 3 plates on it.
Haven’t settled on new goals yet but for the sake of convenience, making 1-2-3-4 into a 5RM instead of a 1RM sure seems reasonable. I always told myself I’d be allowed to stop once I reached 1-2-3-4 but a) I don’t want to stop, and b) I feel like I’m still not very strong (because 1-2-3-4 is pretty entry level by T-nation standards, so it’s about the company you keep. It’s definitely strong compared to most people in my gym.)
To that end: Fact is, 5s Pro squats feels like a great progression pattern as long as I’m not losing ground on the lighter weeks. It would take 18 weeks to reach 5x315 if I continue it uninterrupted with +10lbs TM every week.
No reason I couldn’t just do the same for press; I did 3x135 the other day so it shouldn’t take too long… Bench press needs to be dusted off and put on some kind of regular structure… For deadlift I’m more interested in taking a step back so that next time I try 405 I don’t finish the lift with my spine.
I found a couple good old T-nation programs that look fun, one is the Waterbury method (10 sets of 3 on a main lift each day) and for DL, “The BadAss Deadlift Program” which looks fun: 20 singles at a slight deficit under a strict time limit.
So TBD what I’m going to actually do next Monday.
If I start 5/3/1 I’ll make it a bit less boring by unsynchronizing the lifts, so for example if squats this week are light, presses are heavy, or something along those lines. In summary, TBD!
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