Some intense lifting, I love it!
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Thanks Koe thought it would be nice to have some sort of year on year measurement to give me an idea of how I’m doing, and it’s just something a bit different.
06/01/25 - PM
Pretty sure this ended up being actual flu, spent a fair bit of time in bed, joint ache, shivering, hot, cold, fatigue and the all of the other joys sinuses, mucus, cough, headache etc.
Feeling rough still but managed to get a BA course done yesterday with many meds on board, wasn’t functioning my best but good to know I can see turn up even under crappy circumstances, was pretty hot and spent a lot of time on my kneeling and crawling round concrete which in turn meant I’ve got pain in them today.
Since I managed that I figured training would be ok today, after feeling sorry for yourself never achieved anything.
45M W1 B4 D16
Strength
Axle press: 20, 40kg x8 (on BB because I forgot again, remembered at 50), 53, 63kg x 3, 73kg x 2 + f, 68kg x 3
S/s
Russian twists: 10kg x 8 e/s x 5 sets
Volume
Axle press: 53kg X 3 x 10 sets EMOM
Finisher:
Gorilla rows: 25, 30, 35kg x 5
DB bench: 25, 30, 35kg x 8
Wgpu: 5, 5, 5
Pressing was decent, I failed last rep of original top set, but it wasn’t too far off and I was probably being over ambitious given my current snot filled, body temp all over the place, joint aching status (did I mention I was feeling rough already?). Went for the weight I should have on the back of that and it was fine.
Volume based on successful top set, went well, pressing is good because it’s not requiring me to breath as much as dead or squats, good session to come back in to.
Finisher - dropped reps on gorilla rows because holding that position was going to cause me to either black out or have a heart attack, or both (alright I’m done bitching about being ill).
Good session considering.
Plan is as last articulated, mini cut in Jan just to re-sensitise to food and give me digestive track a break, no counting just not eating mounds of PB, should probably see me drop 5-8lbs before end of Jan. Will then go back to gaining until probably Mid April, depending on where I am, want to come in looking properly lean for the cruise (and end of the T-ransformation challenge).
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How are you still sick, dumbass? I tell you what I am sick about. Sick about you not pressing 80 yet, get on with it.
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@Cyrrex - still sick, now just staying sick to spite you.
07/01/25 - PM
45M W2 B4 D19
Strength:
SSB front squat: 60, 100, 120kg x 4, 140kg x 3
S/s
Hollow rocks
12 x 3 sets
Volume:
SSB front squat: 90kg x 4 x 6 sets
Volume finished when I’d had enough, not killing myself today, same with finisher.
The 140kg was probably overly ambitious given state of me, I’m bad at listening to my body clearly. It wasn’t a fail, I just felt the 3rd rep telling me a 4th would be a fail, that and I did something unpleasant in my mid back, hopefully nothing serious.
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I hope you heal up quickly!!! Sending prayers for a speedy recovery!
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Possible crippling injury aside, those looked pretty good mate. 140 front squat is no joke. Never heard of using a SSB for that.
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Very strong, mate!
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Prayers answered, no issues this morning, now if this illness could jog on I’d be delighted.
It does change the movement somewhat, I find it more comfortable, probably slightly less quad involvement.
Cheers, I’ll be happier when it’s 4 plates and reps, but yea quite happy with that.
08/01/25 - PM
45M W2 B4 D20
Strength
Inc bench (2nd level): 60, 80kg x 3, 60kg x 5, 80, 90, 100kg x 3
S/s
Ab rollout: 8, 5 (alerter - call out interruption), 8, 8, 8
Volume:
Inc bench: 75kg x 4 x 10 EMOM
Fin.
Kept it brief, the call out made my time a lot shorter but I’d already decided not to bother with the finisher, illness and torpor.
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10/01/25 - AM
45M W2 B4 D18 (out of sync)
Farmers: 50kg p/h - 50 ft drop turn and pick and back x 10 sets EMOM
Pull ups: 5 x 10 sets EMOM
Sandbag loads to platform: 50kg x 3 x 10 EMOM (did the last two sets as a single set)
Kept this lighter, lower reps and shorter distance, as expected my lungs were the issue, strength no problems, just wanted to get it done, it’s supposed to be a light session anyway.
Recovering from the illness, still snotty, coughing and some sinus issues but nothing more than that.
.
Weight 207.25, not going down overly fast but that’s by design, would like to be around 200 by end of Jan, but we’ll see how it shakes out and how I feel, this is a mini cut predominantly for re-sensitisation, I’ll go harder in April/May.
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Bonus afternoon work:
A) Chin ups (angled, standard, ng - 2 sets of each): 6 x 6
B) Dips: 6 x 6
C) ab rollout: 6 x 6
Just a very quick bit of work, take a break from sitting at the desk, feeling a fair bit better and mindful of the fact I’d skipped a few finishers. Elbow was a bit cranky after this morning’s pull-ups.
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Casual humble brag. 
He must have caught the American virus. I got hit with the sinus junk, poor sleep, shortness of breath, and burning muscle fatigue the week before Thanksgiving (last week of November here). Went through all kinds of meds and just had to ride it out for three weeks. Had about one week showing free and started over again. I’d guess it took 5 to 6 weeks to get through everything. There’s some weird stuff out there this year.
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Knock on wood, but I have managed to escape any viruses so far this season.
My health is a result of my environment. My wife and I both teach at a school with over 2400 high schoolers. Our two oldest are in a K-8 school and our 3 year old goes to daycare. It’s a 360 degree assault.
We’ll have a break from school/daycare and get my 3 year old healthy. Without fail, she comes home with a runny nose on day one of her return to daycare. Every. Time.
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Yeah, I well remember the days of small children and constant sickness. And you are double exposed.
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My mom is all about the natural stuff and spends loads of money at the fancy grocery store. She tells me about the stuff she takes and says she never gets sick.
I’m like, “Mom, I’m around over 2000 nasty adolescents in addition to having a 3 year old who will lick things for no reason.”
She responds, “I’m around people at work, too.”
She works in a place where she interacts with about 5-8 other adults and most of them no longer have kids in the house. But it’s almost the same.
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@Frank_C @Cyrrex - I have kids at school but they both seem fine, I barely leave the house these days, not sure how I caught it, but my wife was ill first, so I’ll blame her.
90-95% better regular cold crap only now.
@SvenG I did your thing, it was awful - I added 6 ab rollouts at the beginning just to add some additional ab work in, because it seemed like pretty much every muscle gets some stimulus, thought abs deserved a bit more love (you’re welcome 
).
Videoed it, good job I did, I realised I almost missed press ups on set 3, didn’t realise I actually had missed them on set 2, just done them now to make up for it:
Then this:
I might have lay in the recovery position after that.
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It is an awful thing! Great work.
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Spontaneous post, I’ve just eaten a banana and a protein shake (pre-wo) and feel a little sick both the banana and the shake were too sweet. The shake I understand I get sick of shakes, never been a massive fan of them, drink them for convenience only, but the banana, it’s not even ripe.
I assume it’s a change in taste, coming from stringing together over 2 months of consistent single ingredient, no sugar non-processed food. You always hear how people say that they stop craving sweet stuff after a while, think I’m pretty much there, foods not a massive interest for me anyway, but getting into my stride with healthier eating (seeing that healthy food isn’t really much more effort than frozen junk is a massive step) makes eating crap way less appealing, I simply no longer want to eat something that isn’t genuinely tasty, but simply a manipulation of fat/salt/sugar to trick me into eating it. Eating that stuff takes me further from my goals and doesn’t satisfy anymore.
Making a mindset switch about this just being something I do now, not a specific dietary intervention made a big difference to getting here, telling yourself “this is how I eat” eventually makes it so.
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13/01/25 - PM
45M W2 B5 D21
Strength
Banded deads: 60, 100, 120, 140, 160kg x 4
S/s
Field goal sit-ups: 10 x 4 sets
Filmed a few sets to see if bands significantly change my form and if is that a really a problem?
120:
140:
160:
Last time I pulled 160kg x 4 against bands, it was standing on a plate, and it was easier, I’m beginning to think my mechanics lend themselves to deficit more than from the floor, I know Pwn has discussed this here previously, from memory he suggested because I am mechanically more suited to squats, I default to trying to squat the weight up. After 120 and reviewing the video I did attempt to hinge more, particularly in breaking from the top, attempting to let the hips break before the knees, I think I tend to let the knees break first then they get in the way and I get the two stage lower (and lift, but not sure how to address that?). I dislike deadlifts so much, I am determined to master them, for absolutely no reason other than stubbornness.
Volume:
Banded deads: 100kg x 4 x 5 sets EMOM
Started to feel some back pain, shut it down, don’t need the volume on deads that bad.
Finisher:
Started some light bicep work and had pain in my elbow, joy, called it here, wasn’t exactly lit up by the prospect of accessory work, so decided on being slightly grumpy after the deads and calling it here as well.
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I’m not Pwn, but being that I have busted my ass on the Deads and it looks like we have somewhat similar leverages, Id like to share my two cents.
Yes, if you are a good squatter (I am the same way), you can utilize more quads from a deficit at the expense of a slightly increased ROM.
Which is why having my feet pointed straight forwards on a Deadlift feels more powerful to me. Puts a lot more loading onto the quads. I don’t know if you have your feet pointed at an angle or not, but when I do that, a lot of the load shifts to my Adductors and low back with very little quad engagement.
You also are probably going to have a strong ass sumo deadlift because of these mechanics.
A part of this could also just be levers and no fault of your own, it’s a bit hard to tell without a front shot too.
Have you tried rounding your upper back more?
I’ve got short arms. The only way I can feel my lats fully engage is when I let them round and hang. The distance from your hips to the bar is shortened at the bottom, it makes it very easy for you to get a really efficient starting position.
It’s at the expense of lockout strength but I think it’s a better trade off.
Hmm, I’m not the greatest with explaining but I know what you’re talking about.
I feel like Touch and Go Reps and Dead Stop Reps are similar but they train two different enough patterns that you’d need some adjustments (Pete Rubish advocates Dead Stop and George Leeman Advocates TnG, so there’s definitely two schools of thought)
Alot of it could be that you’re just losing tension in the hinge. Touch and Go makes this easier to do as well.
Possibly could be your levers too. if you’re quad dominant and not loading your quads, I could see how it’d want to shift all the load to your PC to compensate… Do you find it easier to stay tight and hinge correctly when your in a deficit?
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