I’ve honestly never experienced anything like it. Instead of suffering through the experience again, I’ll just return to life without maple syrup, a life where the suns shines a little less brightly.
I also feel like I owe everyone I’ve ever ridiculed for lactose intolerance a sincere apology.
Thanks for the comment; over the years, your input has been invaluable.
Just catching up. When squats feel off to me, I feel like I get back to it pretty quickly with just a couple weeks of box squatting.
Block 2, Week 2 Cluster Set
Regular Lifting
Back Squat 235 x 3, 245 x 3, 255 x 3
Bench Press 195 x 3, 205 x 3, 215 x 2
RDL 225 x 3, 235 x 2
Scoop flies, Band stuff
The weird Florida hangover seems to have officially ended.
Everything felt pretty solid today, except benching where my left shoulder and pec keep vetoing my efforts towards a massive press.
I kept today’s effort around 8.5 - 9/10 to give myself a bit of runway to add 5-10 lbs or so each of the next couple weeks–and put my shoulder in time out until it starts acting right.
I think that’s pretty much the plan for the next couple or three weeks, with conditioning on Saturday. Except last Saturday because I was ice fishing during Ohio’s polar vortex.
For me, it’s usually a matter of getting lazy with form. I noticed last time my stance had been widening and I wasn’t getting sufficiently tight under the bar. I remembered and–voila!–things are mostly back to normal.
Next up, I need to remember how to bench.
Always good to have you stopping in, man. Hope you’re finding successes where I’m not.
I see nothing but successes in here, my man.
Block 2, Week 2 Cluster Set
Deadlift 275 x 3, 285 x 1, 295 x 1, 300 x 1
Incline Bench Press 170 x 3, 180 x 3, 185 x 3
Front Squat 170 x 5, 180 x 5, 185 x 3
I felt good again today; weights moved well. I seem to be getting stronger again, using weights I haven’t touched for roughly a year. I’ve been stronger, sure, but all my lifts seem headed in the right direction.
As always, much appreciated. I guess when I think about lifting, it’s hard to keep in mind that I’m playing the long game.
Over the last year, there have been a lot of setbacks. It’s only within the past week or two I feel the ship.has been righted, that I’m back on track, nearing where I was a year ago.
All this stuff ebbs and flows and has to fit into life. I’m past my peak because I know what it takes to do better, that I’m unwilling to give, as much as anything. This has to fit into and enhance our lives, so we get to see it as a privelege rather than some ideal we’re not meeting. You’re doing great!
If I’m not mistaken, you had a pretty high peak, didn’t you? Like…you were really strong?
I haven’t scaled those same summits of peak strength, so I still want to push hard a while longer. I do, however, envision a day where I decide I’m strong enough and am happy just to maintain.
This is interesting: In your case, what would it take? What’s the line you’re not willing to cross?
Block 2, Week 2 Regular lifting
Bench Press 190 x 5, 5, 5
Back Squat 225 x 5, 5, 5
Incline DB Rows 80s x 4, 5, 5
Everything moved well today. Better than well, actually: lifts felt better than they have in a long while. It seems like the veil of post-Italian covid has finally, after several false starts, lifted; the sun is shining; and, I’ve remembered how to move weights again.
At the moment, I’m split: after another week of this style lifting should I: (1) Start a new cycle, repeating what I’ve done the last six weeks, just with more weight; or (2) run Thibs’ Layer system which would provide more volume, but less frequency.
Definitely leaning towards option two.
Then another run at the Eternal Warrior Program.
How would Layers sessions look?
Not particularly, although much appreciated. I’m more being morose about not being very athletic.
I don’t know that it’s really a specific line, more like a focus… Pareto principle kind of stuff. Like we can all do pretty well within the constructs of our lives, but to get more out of it my whole schedule would have to be around whatever goal. I don’t care enough anymore.
You mean which of the million variations of The Official Layer System would I do?
I’ve been partial to:
Also, I meant to comment in the thread arguing about whether a rep counts if you pause for a couple breaths. Or if that break means you’ve begun a new set. Or something. I had more important things to do, eg, ice fishing, so forgot. Anyhow: dude, you’re a fountain of Poliquin/Thibaudeau-esque knowledge.
Gotcha. That makes perfect sense. You’d have to sacrifice family time, work, walking the dogs. And those things are important.
I’ve heard a lot of retired powerlifters say the same thing.
In the back of my mind, I wonder when age, not my priorities, becomes the limiting factor.
I’m happy to see a few guy on here, in their 50s, still hitting PRs.
@barley1 that thread is “Is Poliquin Insane”. Should read “Was Poliquin….” RIP.
A few years ago this “Effective Reps” “mechanical tension” style hit the scene and Thibaudeau and Paul Carter spent a bunch of time on the forum kicking it around. Then we got into stuff like proximity to failure, and optimal rest times and whatever else. Like it was all new.
It was cool to see this book/system from 25 years ago, that had an answer for all these questions from today.
@barley1 how are you liking the program, by the way?
Jacked Athlete?
I ran the program for 12 weeks–I liked it. It’s one of Thib’s Omnicontraction programs. Each strength week, there’s a day of eccentric, isometric, and regular lifting. You alternate three weeks of strength programming with a week of bodybuilding. Lots of opportunities to mix it up and tailor the program to specific goals. Very exciting.
The last few weeks, I called an audible and changed things to a week of each type of lifting focus, more like Triphasic Training. But, and this is important, I was too lazy to update the title of my log.
Honestly, I’ve liked this version a bit more. Definitely less pizzazz, but it seems to have been more effective with less volume.
Nice. It looks awesome on paper. Every time I try his stuff that progresses lifting tempos as a method, though, I get mad and quit the hobby in favor of video games and Cheetos. I just can’t stick with it.
I’ve seen Thibs do two different progressions with tempo. For one, you keep the weight the same but slow the eccentric, and/or add pauses each week. As a result, each week becomes a new level of horrible. When I get to, like, a 7-second eccentric, or three three-second pauses per rep, I start dreading the workouts—being somewhat fit doesn’t feel like it’s worth the suffering.
The second progression begins with the long eccentrics and/or pauses. These get shorter week-to-week; you also drop a rep and add a bit of weight. Each week feels easier. And I get to pretend like I’m getting stronger, because I’m using more weight. I far prefer this version.
You tinkered with the Eternal Warrior Program last summer, I think? I’m debating modifying his Eternal Warrior Program to use the second style of progression on the main lift and switch around the preparation stuff so each workout becomes full-body. And Barbarian Day as written will simply have to go.
I like dropping the reps and adding the weight, and enjoy that feeling of getting stronger.
And then, pretty soon after, dropping back to that old weight and getting more reps because that feeling of getting stronger was Real.