What version/template are you going to run?
Thinking “Simplest Strength.” Get the main lift in, one direct assistance movement, then some light hypertrophy work. Seattle is full of hills, so I have plenty of access to running up hills for conditioning, if I can convince myself to do so. Other than that, I’ll just go by feel and see what I need to do food/recovery wise.
How much longer are you on your Santa program?
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Also of note, Wendler recommends 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight as the goal, there’s no fucking way i’m trying to down 580 grams of protein a day lol
Okay. I am assuming those are 1 rm and then you’ll figure out the TM?
One week left on the Santa deal.
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Yea, exactly, I’m using those as my 1rm maxes (even though I hit all for doubles, except DL which I hit 20lbs more for a single). I generally go too hard (or do nothing at all), so I’m working on trying to do something more moderate and most importantly consistently.
I found a spreadsheet that has a calculator for all of this, so it will compute the weight I need to lift.
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First day of 5/3/1, realized tomorrow is supposed to be deadlift day which is probably going to suck but I have friends and family coming in on Thursday so i’m going to try and get through this week quickly.
The sun is fucking shining, i walked a route that gave me more sun to the gym then took a leisurely stroll back up to my house on the way back. Praise Jesus or whoever controls the sun.
Warmup
10 min elliptical (pretty intense, felt good on the hip)
Press:
120 x 5
140 x 5
155 x 10
Close Grip BP:
135 x 10
155 x 10
175 x 10
Seated cable row:
60?? 2x12
Facepulls
60?? 2x12
Triceps pulldown/overhead extension
60 2x12/2x10
Rope curls
60 2x12
I have no idea if it’s actually 60, the machines are dumb I’ll have to see the model and confirm if it’s actually the correct weight.
Pressing felt good for both, absolutely smoked the close grip, I didn’t really measure my max here so kind of went with what I thought was right, maybe a bit light but that’s what i’m going for.
Happy with the start.
Woke up at 290 this morning, got some meal prep going tonight so I should drop some weight this week, then gain most of it back this weekend.
The good news about the recomp is that despite not losing weight my weightlifting belt is fitting better. When I first started using it again a few months ago the first holes were a bit tough to get into, now the second ones fit easily with the third nearly in reach.
289 this morning, feeling and I think looking a decent amount leaner. Lady friend says my muscles feel hard and I’m looking swole, so at least someone sees it.
DL
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 8 (video later)
Ham curl
70 3x12
Abs
150 3x8
SSB squats
135 x 10
155 x 10
185 x 10
Reverse hyper
65 2x5
20 1x10
I’ll update more and post a video of my hips shooting up way too fast on my deadlift later
*ssb was actually with an ss yoke bar which weighs 65 not 45, so 20lbs should be added to those
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Couple new things here, never used a reverse hyper or ssb before so took some getting used to.
Deadlifts were ugly but light enough to not be too bad, lower back was gassed at the end so did some ham curls and abs before ssb. SSB actually felt good once I did a few reps, think I prefer it to the FS, although the weight was quite low. RH was misloaded 30 on one side 35 on the other which made a new uncomfortable exercise worse, once I lowered the weight it felt great and despite the weirdness I think my back already feels slightly better because of it.
@MarkKO if you, or anyone else, has time and pointers on these I’d appreciate it.
You need to set up better, brace better and be more explosive. You’re strong enough to move the weight but there’s a lot you need to clean up.
First up, the setup, because that’s your foundation and your power. The bar needs to be around mid foot, definitely not touching your shins. Grip the bar, and crush it. Squeeze your lats (squeeze oranges in your armpits). Straighten your legs and breathe in, then brace. Now drive your knees hard over the bar and your butt down like you’re jumping, and jump into the pull, rapidly transferring your weight from the ball of your feet to your heels. It may help to practice that jumping motion during your warmups for a while.
Your bracing it what keeps your spine and back safe as well as allows for efficient power transfer. Your setup can be perfect, but if your bracing isn’t good it won’t matter. Pull your abs in, away from your navel. Then make like you’re holding your pee. This brings your pelvis into a better position, which keeps your lumbar spine in a better position, or something like that. Now breathe into your abs, which you’re pulling in, and squeeze down on the air while squeezing your glutes. When you combine this with squeezed lats, your whole back is locked into a tight, powerful position.
The explosiveness is simple, it starts with the jump and continues into moving the bar as hard and fast as possible every rep.
You should be repeating the setup and brace sequence for each rep, every set from the first set with an empty bar.
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Awesome, really appreciate the reply.
I’ve been watching the video and just watched a Coan video. I had no idea my setup up was so uncommitted until I watched the video, there is virtually no structure. I feel like I have a decent amount of power but I’m so uncomfortable with the lift and my positioning that I’m using it horribly inefficiently. I’ll see if I can’t get in a better position and try and implement those bracing tips, I think if I feel locked into the position explosiveness will come pretty easily.
Going to keep videoing all my final DL sets for awhile, in any case
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Like, when my squat form actually feels tight and my core is well braced i fly out of the hole relative to a shit brace. I’ve never quite got that DL brace down pat and my squat still needs oodles of work.
There is no difference between bracing for the squat and the deadlift. The process is the same, the only addition with the squat is making a double chin. I can almost guarantee that if you cannot brace correctly when deadlifting you aren’t bracing correctly when squatting.
It is quite easy to feel braced when squatting when you aren’t, however. Squeezing your abs or pushing them against a belt while pulling on the bar will do this, when all it actually does is generate a false sense of tightness. The deadlift doesn’t afford you this false sense of security.
The purpose of bracing is to make the whole trunk stiff, from pelvis to base of your skull. This not only protects your spine, it allows you to transfer power through your torso without any leakage. Think of it as a car’s chassis: if the chassis is cracked or poorly made, no matter how powerful the engine the car won’t move well. This is why a rounded upper and even middle back isn’t necessarily a bad thing when deadlifting, PROVIDED the round occurs before you brace, so that the round is locked in prior to your spine experiencing any loading.
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Woke up at 285.5 after the scale bounced around by 10lbs, so time for a new battery or just a new, non-shit scale, maybe even one that my feet fit all the way on. I imagine my weight might change by a few pounds once I get the new one.
I had a brutal therapy session yesterday a.m. and am still recovering from it, everything seems 400x harder than normal. The long-term seems dreary, at best.
I think that’s probably right for me 99% of the time, I’ve been thinking about this a lot, since my mind won’t shut off anyway i’ve been replaying a few weeks worth of squats in my head. I don’t even pay attention to bracing until I get to “heavy” weights and then i usually have one or two reps I feel like I’ve braced properly for, a bunch where the belt helps, then a few that are just garbage, where the chassis is made of al dente spaghetti. Squatting and deadlifting every week should help but realistically I need to create a process that I repeat every time, I’m terrible at being consistent even with small things unless I have structure. Will try and focus on that tomorrow (bench) and Thursday (squats).
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A big help will most likely be treating every rep and weight the same: brace as hard as possible and move as explosively as possible.
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New scale is en route, woke up pretty bloated though.
Warmup
5 min elliptical
Forgot to do any active stretching
Bench
195 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 13
Incline DB
55 x 10
65 x 10
75 x 10
Tricep pulldown
70 3x8
Lat straight arm pulldown
110 3x8
Db curls
35 2x6
Hammer curls
20 2x10
Db shrugs
55 3x12
Face pulls
60 3x12
Bench felt good, got a bit of leg drive and every rep was pretty consistent and tight, happy overall. Definitely could’ve hit 15, maybe 17 but I’m trying to leave something in the tank. Nothing else of note really.
This puts my calculated 1rm at 385, which is just stupid. I’m probably good for 355 but doubtful about 365
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got a new scale that added about 3lbs on to me, need to start actually making a bit of progress on the weight loss train. Going to try and skip breakfast during the week to see if that helps. Will start nailing it down come next week as I have a ton of social obligations over the next 5 days, ugh
Squats in about 90 min
Warmup:
Hurdler, couch, pigeon, tspine stretches and some leg lifts
Squats, focusing on tightness and explosiveness
bar x 10
135 2x5
185 1x5
225 1x5
260 1x5
295 1x10 (pr)
Rdl:
155x10
175x10
195x10
Ham curls
70 3x20
Abs
90 3x15
Reverse hyper
25 3x10
Went in a underfed, felt pretty dead most of the session. Videoed a session of explosive 185 squats but I was high, the deeper I get the more tightness I lose. Need to work on flexibility? Glad I got to 10 on squats but my last rep my tightness broke down and all of them were a bit high, the movement just feels wrong right now.
The reverse hyper is so uncomfortable but my back feels great after I do it shrugs
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Not necessarily. It just means you need to learn how to brace and hold it. Bracing is relatively easy when you’re not moving. Different story when you’re moving your hips, because you have to keep your pelvis stabilised while it moves and shit moves around it.
Not that mobility work is a bad thing, it’s just not necessarily the solution. If you couldn’t hit depth, absolutely it would be needed. Not being able to stay tight at depth doesn’t mean the same thing.
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I’ll probably throw some in anyway (i’m a stiff fucker), I’ve been doing some ankle stuff over the last few days, that feels good.
The orange squeezing tip seemed to be helpful today but I’m obviously not where I need to be for bracing, on any of the main lifts. Even on RDL i realized my back was collapsing on a warmup set with 135, just a lack of understanding about bracing, lack of practice, and lack of focus.
Side note the set was only a PR because I pretty much never try and do anything above 5 reps for squats, ha.
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