Asian Dude's Training Log

Training Logs
386

August 19th

Paused Beltless Squat - Narrow Stance
3 x 135 x 5
225 x 4
315 x 2
365 x 1
405 x 1
450 x 5 RIR 2
390 x 5

Barbell Hyperextension (1 Notch Lower)
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 5

Putting the Hyperextension down a notch changed the muscles being loaded completely, mostly hamstrings at this position. Revealed some glaring weaknesses. Makes it harder but makes me stronger.

Just as I think my paused squats stalled , I hit an awesome topset. I had reps left. Guess I’ll be pushing back singles for now.

7 Likes
387

Paused Bench Press - Larsen Press
3 x 135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 4
255 x 3
275 x 2
300 x 5 RIR 1

Paused Bench Press - Spoto Larsen Press
185 x 12
225 x 12 RIR 3-4

Original plan was 300 for a double but it felt good so I went for 5 and nailed it, need to do some Shoulder Pressing and Tris next session.

Bench & Squat has been moving like butter lately and it’s all running like clockwork

10 Likes
388

August 21st

Conventional Beltless Deadlift - 2" Deficit
2 x 135 x 5
225 x 2
315 x 2
405 x 1
510 x 5 RIR 5

Barbell Lunge (Rep for each leg)
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2

Pullups
BW
2 Sets of 25 Reps

Tried lunges with wraps, it felt a lot better. Felt things out, determined what my TM is, so I’ve got a good idea on where to start for the future.

Deficits moved smooth. Nothing to complain about here.

5 Likes
389

August 22nd

Barbell Skullcrusher
5 x 135 x 5
155 x 10
160 x 10
105 x 20 Burnout

Seated BTN Press
135 x 8
155 x 4
175 x 2

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen Spoto
135 x 5
185 x 4
1 x 225 x 10

8 Likes
390

Training Update

I’ve been taking a few days off and probably will take most of this week off. Lots of things happened. I got married on Friday, big blur of activity since then.

8 Likes
391

congrats

1 Like
392

Congratulations Konsu!!

1 Like
393

congratulations mate.

1 Like
394

CONGRATS!!!

All the best and good luck!

1 Like
395

Congrats dude!!!

1 Like
396

August 30th

Paused Beltless Squat - Narrow Stance
3 x 135 x 5
225 x 4
315 x 3
405 x 2
460 x 5 RIR 2

RDL Beltless - Slow Tempo 3 - 1 - 3
315 x 5
405 x 5
500 x 5 RIR 4

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen Spoto
135 x 4
185 x 4
245 x 12 RIR 3

Big PRs coming back in.

6 Likes
397

Training Updates Week 7

Recovery Notes

  • Nutrition has gotten cleaned up significantly, feel a lot better. There’s two nagging spots that are starting to crop up that could be grounds for future tweaks. It always happens around Weeks 7 or 8, and happened last training cycle. I’m not sure if this is an overuse injury type of deal or what.

  • It’s hard for me to want to swap variations because I’m still progressing, which is the worse part. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here, i’ll have to think about it.

Squat

  • Based off today’s session, i’m going to be making 500x5 my end goal here for Paused Squats. Not only is that an insane number for me to be pausing with in my eyes, it also feels like my time with pauses are coming to end and I think this is where I’m going to land at after another 6 weeks.

Bench

  • I’m reaching the home stretch on my Larsen’s. I’m actually not confident in hitting 315x5. I think 310x5 is something i’ll end up landing on in the next few weeks.

  • Larsen Spoto Pressing is going to end up overtaking this as the new variation. I’m setting a pretty strong baseline here with the higher rep sets.

Deficit Deadlift

  • This has been kinda a crapshoot. It’s definently been sitting on the backburner for me. 585x5 was a big big goal I wanted to hit for these but don’t think that’ll be a possibility.

  • I also don’t think 550x10 to match my 1" Deficit PR is going to happen in 6 weeks. But I do think 535x10 and/or 570x5 is doable in 6 weeks, touch and go.

  • Regardless of what I achieve here, this is one of those things that i’m going to chip away at in the background. The 2" Deficit isn’t leaving for me anytime soon. After this Training Period is up, i’m planning on doing Paused Deadlifts off the 2" Deficit because I hate myself and also want to be stronger with deadlifting.

Other Accessories

  • Still keeping the same rotation in as usual. My OHP is probably falling off a little bit, so are my rows, probably. Haven’t had access to a hyperextension either. I need to get on top of these starting next week now that I have access to the equipment.

Other Training Notes

  • I visited my old, original gym when we first moved here and just about everyone asked where I was and wanted me to come back, including the owners.

  • I’ve been gymless for a few weeks now, kinda just bouncing around with free day passes and trials. But I think i’m going to be going back to this gym.

  • Extra Note: Really liking the 100% Raw Type of training I’ve been doing. I still do use straps, but outside of that, I feel like it’s much easier to get into the workout and not worry about all the extra crap. I still plan to throw on all my equipment eventually but i’m fairly content right now

5 Likes
398

September 1st

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen
135 x 5
225 x 4
260 x 2
285 x 1
305 x 5 RIR 1

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen Spoto
250 x 10 RIR 3

Seated OHP - Close Grip
135 x 5
155 x 2
185 x 5
205 x 5 RIR 0

Good PRs on the Bench. Reaching my end goals. I chose my numbers well this time around. It seems like I’ll end up around 310-315x5, which is right on the dot. Pretty proud of this since I was able to not only program but structure my training around this number over 8 weeks, which leaves 4 weeks to peak, if I chose to do so.

But there’s some nagging aches cropping up here. So I’m going to play it smart and take what I can get. I’ll be aiming for 310x5 next week, and then I’m backing off on bench for a week or two, lighter sets with the Spoto Larsen Press to recover, before starting up another training cycle.

Squat will take a bit to build up still but I’ll be focusing all my energy here for the time being.

5 Likes
399

September 2nd

Conventional Beltless Deadlift - 2.5" Deficit
135 x 5
225 x 2
315 x 1
405 x 1
515 x 2
550 x 1
585 x 1

Barbell Row
315 x 3
365 x 3
415 x 10

PR on my Rows. Not a PR in a traditional sense for my deadlift, but, the bar speed on 585 was faster and lockout was easier, noticably. There is definitely some carryover from my Squats & Rowing.

4 Likes
400

September 3rd

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen Spoto
135 x 2
225 x 2
255 x 13 RIR 3

Seated OHP - Close Grip
135 x 5
3 x 185 x 10 RIR 3

Close Grip OHP seems to have maintained strength despite minimal training here. I had to scroll back 3 months to find it. I left off at 200x11.

Now this is very good news because I feel like I could’ve hit that today. This leaves me ALOT of room to progress.

As I’m deloading & building up reps with the new training block for bench, I’m going to be trying to push hard here for a small PR, 10-15lbs I’d be happy with over the course of 6 weeks. As the intensity for bench increases I’ll start weening off the shoulders.

3 Likes
401

I finally got a gym membership as well. After enough convincing from buddies I joined my old gym. It feels good to be back here haha. Great community and people.

The issue is that this gym doesn’t have a back raise which is like a integral movement for me.

I was doing some experimenting with a barbell trying to mimic a Barbell Hyperextension. I thought about doing a GM but I didn’t like it. So I just set the pins up high so my back was at a 45 degree angle, and then put my feet together. Pretty much a dead stop GM Back Raise. It felt similar enough that I think I’ll try this out, it needs some adjusting but I think it could work.

It could end up like the zercher endeavor but at least I’ll know if it works or not.

Extra Rant
I also feel like i’m at that point in my lifting journey where things are kinda just “making sense” in a way. Lately i’ve realized I haven’t been overthinking anything, numbers, nervousness about missing a lift, nothing… when I come into the gym it just all feels like it’s working like clockwork, in with one and out with another. It’s a very strange feeling and eerily calm in a way, and it translates over to my mindset and lifting in general. Never really had this feeling before.

3 Likes
402

September 4th

Paused Beltless Squat - Narrow Stance
135 x 1
225 x 1
315 x 1
2 x 405 x 5

Beltless Conventional Deadlift - 2" Deficit
315 x 1
5 x 405 x 1

Nice mental break today, still moderately heavy but didn’t require any focus or preparation. Pretty much jumped in right away for squats, couldn’t have been more than 10 mins to warmup

3 Likes
403

September 5th

Paused Bench Press - Close Grip Larsen
3 x 135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
270 x 3
310 x 5 RIR 2

Paused Bench Press - Larsen Spoto
245 x 14 RIR 1

Seated OHP - Close Grip
135 x 5
195 x 8 RIR 4

This was an unexpected PR session. 310x5 felt easy.

I hit the safety bars at the bottom on my 5th rep because I had relaxed and sunk the bar into my chest, which threw it to one side, I still completed the rep smoothly with a rep left despite this.

This is going into Week 8 and I’m looking pretty damn strong. I wasn’t planning on hitting 310x5, original goal was 310 for a triple.

195x8 felt good. There’s a PR waiting here.

5 Likes
404

September 6th

Conventional Beltless Deadlift - 2.5" Deficit
135 x 3
225 x 2
315 x 1
405 x 1
515 x 2
535 x 2 RIR 5-6

Paused Beltless Squat - Narrow Stance
315 x 2
405 x 2
465 x 5 RIR 1, snap city 2

Pullups
BW x 22
BW x 11

Gassed out at the end. Stopped there. Great session.

Unexpected PR for Squats. Originally was supposed to be a deadlift day, 535 moved really well, so it got me thinking haha. I was nervous my back would be a little tired but it held up real well. Gives me a good idea for next week, when I’ll actually be 100% fresh and ready for squats.

This would also be the first time I am hitting a 7 Day Training Week. It feels strange. I’m not super beat up.

3 Likes
405

End of Week 7: Start of Week 8

Nutrition Notes

  • Diet has been significantly cleaned up the last 2 weeks. Calories are up again.

  • It always seems to end up like this unintentionally but it makes sense. The first 6 weeks my needs for food aren’t as significant but then the intensity ramps up and my appetite increases.

  • Recovery Wise, i’ve been doing amazing. This high frequency, 1 set thing is honestly one big experiment I’m doing for myself and I am loving it.

  • It’s allowing me to go almost every single day, I love training enough to want to do this and it’s allowing me to go while still making progress and not just going backwards.

  • Big thing i’ve noticed with this style of training is that my Groove & Technique for S/B/D has become increasingly efficient and smooth.

  • There are plenty of days I come in and I genuinely feel like i’m not doing any work at all with how little i’m doing, but i’m trusting it’ll work out.

Deadlift

  • I’ve got an idea of what I want to do with my deadlift. It’s going to be pretty big with the jumps, but I think it’s possible.

  • Something like 550x2 > 565x2 > 580x2 > 590x2

  • I would be undershooting my goals here just a tiny bit. But in the grand scheme of things this is actually probably going to help me out in the long run. I feel like this a very sensible goal to reach for and a number I can be confident in hitting.

  • After that, it’s going to be a Training Block with Paused Deficit Deadlifts. Those are going to be brutal. Planning on just flip flopping between these two. I need to re-assess by the end of this Training Cycle whether or not 6, 8, 10, or 12 week blocks would work & what I could change up though.

Bench

  • Bench is looking very solid. Not much to note here since everything’s moving like clockwork here.

  • Seated OHP is going to be a pretty big primary mover for the next 4-6 weeks as I build up volume on Larsen Spoto’s. It’ll give me a good base. In fact, this is probably going to be what I choose to do first most bench days.

Squat

  • Still on track to hit my goals. Not worried about this.

  • I’m still figuring out what direction to go next for my squat. Split between a few options. I’m sure it’ll come to me at a random time. Probably at 3AM.

Other Notes

  • Feeling pretty healthy and strong. No injuries to note. There’s one minor ache to note. I’m keeping an eye on it.

  • Watched another John Haack Podcast in which he stated he always strived for “Constant Progression”. I’ve been trying to emulate that in any way I can, lots of variations, lots of different shit that are different but not different. It’s keeping it so fun.

4 Likes