5/17 Monday
Deadlift 5/3/1 cycle 2, 3’s week:
135x10, 185x5, 210x3, 245x3, 275x12
Superset each set with 4 burpees.
Front Squat EMOM doubles, 180lbs (my bodyweight is 175 today), last week I failed on the 3rd double. This week I failed on the 8th double, don’t know if it was the first or second rep. I was at the bottom and just couldn’t stand up.
Front Squat Widowmaker: 125lb, wanted 20 reps, lol no way! Last week I got 13, so I made sure to get 14 this week but just about died. After 60 seconds I got back up and did 7 more reps for a total of 21 to make sure I — DIE EMPTY —
Seriously had Alsruhe in my head this whole time, urging me to suffer and become better.
Screw it, knew I’d be late to work, but there was more in me, so I hit the leg press for 3 sets to total annihilation, could barely hobble over to the leg curl where I did another 3 sets to total annihilation.
Hey man, just randomly found your log and browsed through it super quick. Very nice progress over time. And it seems you are another press fanatic, which is awesome.
It’s been a ride over the past couple years… appendectomy and some crazy tendonitis set me back for a while. But today I’m lighter than I’ve been in a decade, and as strong or stronger.
Yup. My single goal at this point is to press 135lb. Everything else is supplementary… ok deads and FS are a keystone, but I dont care the same way about them.
135 isnt much I know. But I’ve been so close for so long… did a single at 130 last night but failed 135 again. Obviously I want more, weight and reps, than a 135 single, but that’s the milestone I’ve been striving hard for all year. Hundreds of reps later and I’m still not there, but still trying.
I applaud the persistence and the single-minded determination, also remember that you’ve lost a significant amount of weight whilst chasing a goal that benefits from carrying additional weight, when you switch from losing to gaining you’ll surpass 135 and soon be repping 155!
I can relate to your goal to a very large extent. I did the same thing last year for the press, and now after dropping a bunch of weight I will be doing it again (although a goal more suitable to my current bodyweight). I haven’t quite figured out what number I am going for, but it will be a primary focus. Maybe we can share some pointers.
Yes, especially for the press! Not only it is the hardest basic to progress, but weight loss affects it the most as the already unstable shoulder joint becomes less stable as less mass is present in it
I don’t care so much about the abs, but being in acceptable physical condition matters. But that said, I probably have room to put on a few kilo just so long as I don’t let myself go to crap.
@alex_uk thank you! @dagill2 great idea about the screen name but no, that was an auto-generated user name for something else I was using. (Jdm are my initials of course). I joined this forum just to ask an injury/rehab question and didn’t want to track another username/PW!
How appropriate though!
@Cyrrex thanks! I’m all ears for pointers.
In December I read “purposeful primitive” and the thesis is that stupid, simple progression plans executed with dedication and intensity work. So I devised, and have been executing, this:
10x10 strict press, weekly, starting with the empty bar, add 5lb/week. Eventually fail on 10x10, but still do all 10 sets.
Then - here’s the stupid simple part - just keep coming back, same weight, week after week until one day you get 10x10!
At a certain point drop it to 10 sets of 8 and continue the progression of weight, such that eventually the program reaches 10 singles at 130. Then a 135 single should be doable.
Idk if that’s much of a pointer for a HSPU god like you though!
I’ve been doing this for 20-25 weeks and am to 10 sets of 6 at 105lb, and failing to get all the reps there.
I’ve put up a few videos of lifts, but maybe I can film a single at 130 and you guys will spot a technique flaw I could work on? Wouldn’t that be nice, a magic pill to add 10lbs to my press!
I don’t think there are any magic pills that instantly add 10 pounds, but there probably are things that can help ensure success over time. Grip, elbows, butt, bar path, lean, etc.
I am not a programming nerd like some people around here, but it sounds like you have a program and are sticking to it, that’s at least half the battle. I use 531 as the main program, but sometimes it is the other stuff that really helps. When I completed my goal last year, I think the main contributing factor was that I got my Push Press in a really good place, and that carried over more than I expected. Of course, to get my Push Press up I needed to have a decent foundation with my squat. I also did more incline bench than what I normally like, and I bet that helped. But yeah…push presses. Try to get that sucker up 50 poungs or more higher than your strict press. And hell, they are badass in their own right.
I’ll absolutely work on that. Haven’t really trained the push press and I think 135 is the highest I’ve gone, but it makes total sense to get used to heavy overhead weight, and maybe develop the stability @aldebaran was talking about.
And you’re damn right, a strong push press is badass!
Not only does it get your body (and your brain!) used to bearing a weight much heavier than what you want to strict press, but I found it targets the upper back and neck muscles it a different way, which must carry over.
5/19 Wednesday
1 power clean, 2 push presses, 10 rounds EMOM
95,115,135, the remaining 6 rounds at 145.
Then an extra round to get this video:
Then,
1 power clean, 1 push press, 7 rounds EMOM, 155lb. Nearly blacked out on the first one, so I relaxed the brace a bit on the subsequent reps. This was a weird tradeoff between performance and staying conscious lol…
But if you see the visitor in the video you’ll know it was extra important to stay in control!
