Planning on benching today, brain has been in a state of chaos for a few straight weeks now and it’s kind of crescendoing (I hope) right now. Going to try to get some sleep and figure out how to get through tomorrow.
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Got moving earlier today, grabbed a coffee and took the dog for a few mile walk.
30 min low impact peloton @ 118 watts
Shoulder warmup
Jumps 4x5 (knees feeling these a bit, will do throws at the gym tomorrow)
Tri pulldowns: 35 1x20
Axle bench: 120 x 10, 210 x 5, 220 x 5, 250 x 5, 280 x 5, 220 5x5
BB row: 135 x 10, 185 3x10
SA band pulldown: 2x10
Face pulls x 100
Dragged through this, I’ve (mostly) unintentionally lost 8lbs (294.4->286) in 2 weeks, think that is impacting my lifting. Going to try and not lose more next week during 1s week. Need to keep moving the bench further up, when I start too low (bar further up my head), my shoulders don’t feel great.
Plan for next week is to finish a day or two early so I have the option to squeeze in week one of cycle 2. Gives me 11.5 days to get 8 lifts in, should be feasible. If that doesn’t happen I’ll just mess around for 4-5 days before heading home for 4.
Made some meatballs, turned out great, had probably 8 of them and some pasta.
50 pushups
10 min core (abs started cramping towards the end, ouch)
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Squats
Shoulder warmup, goblet squats, good mornings w/ bar, prowler 1 lap
Pull-ups: 1x5, 1x3 (supinated, caused wrist pain)
Duffalo squats: 145 x 5, 195 x 5, 235 2x3, 285 x 3, 295 x 5, 327.5 x 3, 370 x 8 (PR), 295 5x5
Swiss bar curls: 2x25
Tri push downs: 60 x 20, 70 x 15, 80 x 15
RDL: 115 x 25, 205 x 15, 295 x 10
Listened to Foxing until I got to the PR set then decided I needed something harder and went with Idles, crushed it. Squats felt fantastic today, pushing my knees out as a starting motion sets things off beautifully. Old PR was 365 x 6, so this is a non-trivial jump. Might’ve been able to get to 10 if I took enough deep breaths but happy with the effort.
Decided to actually do meaningful assistance with the RDL, will try and keep that up tomorrow for press. Will do some single leg work and maybe a bit of core/yoga/stretching. I think the core work is actually paying off, my brace is feeling really solid right now.
Edit: 327.5 was because I forgot a 2.5 on my 330 set, didn’t even notice, thankfully
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Did 30 single leg glute bridges and some leg raises for core.
Plan is to do main + supplemental + prowler at the gym tomorrow and assistance at home.
Feeling good about the maxes picked so far. 295 5x5 after a max effort set is rough, I know I’m going to hit every rep and the bar still moves well but getting up out of the hole is still hard work every time. I’ll have almost 2 weeks exactly to finish my second cycle between West Coast trips, will probably come back from the latter of those and take a few extra day deload before deciding on an anchor (no idea here, joker sets maybe included?). Enjoying this template though.
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After two big eating days i’m back in the 289s, will be happy to be within a few lbs of this by the end of the week.
OHP
Prowler warmup:
2 rounds (3 plates then 4):
3 Drag, 3 push
Shoulder warmup
4 x 5 box jumps (landing on the box is much nicer)
2 x 5 pullups
OHP: 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 160 x 5, 180 x 3, 200 x 8 (PR), 160 5 x 5
Between the backoff sets I did
Prowler (4 plates x 1, 5 x 2, 6 x 1):
2 pull, 2 push
Ended up being a solid conditioning effort, I went to do the last push round with 6 plates and it didn’t move, realized I needed to actually put effort into it. I’m not sure how I got 8 reps here but I’m impressed with myself, didn’t leave any in the tank. I wore a belt for most of the pressing which isn’t normal for me, my core and back are trashed from yesterday/day before, imagine that helped a bit. Right shoulder is still in a bit of discomfort, need to read up on a rehab protocol to follow, it doesn’t seem to be fixing itself, unfortunately.
In other news, 2 months+ after going to my doc for psych concerns he wrote me an email telling me he had a med plan for me and would write an RX if I thought it sounded good. I signed off because I need to sleep and get off the edge, will start that tonight. It’s super low dose and a med that a friend takes/one that i’ve been offered before so I know a bit about it. Potential for weight gain and it is going to knock me out, so there will probably be an adjustment period. Glad for some feedback finally though.
Will probably skip push assistance today to save the shoulder (unless someone has some good non-shoulder related pushing ideas) and do some hang cleans for pull/extra conditioning tonight, time allowing.
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Bought a pretty nice bottle of bourbon for a Valentine’s Day gift to myself, I don’t know why, it’s going to take a year to drink. In any case, I had a few glugs of it before remembering I had more work to do.
Cleans/conditioning:
10 min EMOM:
135 x 10 hang cleans (first from floor)
20 jumping jacks
My legs are so tired from yesterday that they played a part in making this harder, lungs, heart and forearms all dead. Typing this as I lay on the floor. Glad I have a day off before DLs
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I listened to your Foxing album and liked it a lot, definitely more upbeat than my regular stuff. Go Down Together had made it into my rotation. I didn’t realize Joywave was from Rochester, they’re playing up there in April, might have to go check it out. I enjoyed their new album but it didn’t really grasp me, same for Bad Suns on a re-listen. I found myself enjoying 11:11, regrettably lol.
Waxahatchee’s EP for some show I’ve never heard of is kind of fun, if you’re into her stuff, nothing to rival Saint Cloud but I love her so I’ll listen to anything she puts out.
Speaking of regrettable music choices, I’m trying to make myself like Tidal, it’s almost working but I’m not sure I can make the switch.
Awesome. Believe me when I say that Foxing has enough un-upbeat music throughout their older albums if you’re into that like me lol. That album you heard as well as their second most recent one are the most “accessible” to the masses. I am very biased but cannot recommend them enough.
I don’t really listen to Joywave at all, decided to listen on a whim. I also can’t say I understand the appeal behind Big Thief. Will give it another try soon; I am very picky about female vocalists.
Haha, I’m sorry 11:11 has infected you. Iodine is stunning. I don’t see myself leaving Spotify anytime soon, to be honest. I spoke with someone recently who uses Tidal and really likes it.
Interesting, I’ll have to check out their older stuff. I enjoy the upbeat stuff but can’t focus on work when I listen to it, which generally leads me further into Sad Girl hell lol.
I have listened to a few of Joywave’s songs previously but definitely not with any regularity, I’m just mostly excited about seeing a show in a hopefully decent venue.
They’re kind of weird, definitely understand not liking it.
I am more picky about male vocalists, almost none of my regular stuff I listen to is male-dominated, with an exception for rap. I like Idles but certainly not for their vocal talents and Bon Iver, who can actually sing, but that isn’t the draw. I like Scott Hutchison a lot but, he was the exception.
I think the sound quality on Tidal is marginally better, the Desktop UX and mobile UX are pretty good, too. I cast a fair amount of music and listen to quite a bit in the car though and Tidal completely drops the ball there. I can’t cast to my Sonos from my computer from the app and my phone sometimes transfers control from Tidal to the Sonos app and sometimes doesn’t. Carplay is so bad I have to use my phone to change music half the time. Unfortunate because I would enjoy not giving my money to Spotify.
Been glancing at some 5/3/1 templates to use as an anchor (would start in mid to late March), jumped around a bit so didn’t look through all of the templates but Pervertor is speaking to me.
Combination of PR sets, Jokers (which i’ve never programmed), and Widowmakers sound like it will be a great way to test strength built from the FSL work while kicking my ass at the same time. Not committed but if anyone’s run it and has thoughts, I’d be interested in hearing them.
“The Widowmaker sets on the first week will be very hard, especially on all the lifts.” This quote killed me, “especially” on everything lol
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I won’t be disappointed if you don’t, but you’re in for a treat.
I can only listen to lo-fi/ambient tracks when working 
Dude, I totally feel that. I’m going to two shows in the next week or so, the first since November. I was devastated for a little while, thinking that live music was doomed again. I fully support going to a show so long as you feel safe.
Total opposite for me. Until recently I really only listened to Phoebe and Amber Bain. Now I am so glad I seriously started listening to Julien and Lucy. Still, I listen to almost entirely male vocalists.
That’s interesting. I never read that before, though I haven’t gone far down the rabbit hole.
I can see how this could complicate things. All my friends use Spotify, so like others it’s hard for me to leave for that reason. I don’t like giving money to Spotify either, especially given its privacy issues, but as I mentioned it helps me feel less bad about listening to artists like Pinegrove. I guess it’s a plus for me in that way.
There’s the whole “your favorite band earns pennies from your thousands of streams,” but I don’t believe Spotify is the platform to support artists if that’s what you’re trying to do. It’s more exploratory. I support them in other ways: I go to their shows, and, more importantly, I contribute on a monthly basis to a select few groups I feel genuinely need and deserve it. That is far more effective than any streaming service.
I haven’t tried something like SVR II or Pervertor, but I like how Jim says in the book something along the lines of “good for those with training ADD.” That speaks to me sometimes, haha.
That speaks to me all of the time! The supplemental heaven also speaks to my ADD nature of never sticking with anything. I’ll get back to the rest of your post, after work. I listened to The Albatross though, pretty sure it’s not the same band.
30 min “low impact” Peloton @ 122 watts
Rotator Cuff band movements (external rotation, extension, internal rotation): 2 x 10
The rotator cuff stuff felt great, thanks for posting that video @throwawayfitness
Will do some stretching/yoga/eating tonight.
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They were called The Hoodies back in the day, i used to have a few of their demo CDs and was fortunate enough to open for them a few times with my band in highschool.
Not sure if this is your style, but Manchester orchestra will be in buffalo March 13th and coheed and Cambria will be in Rochester the next day, I’m planning on hitting both of them.
Ha, that’s awesome!
I enjoy Manchester Orchestra, they did a pretty great cover of My Backwards Walk on a tribute album for Frightened Rabbit, got me to buy into them. Never cared a ton about Coheed. I’d definitely run up there and check out at least one of those though if I wasn’t leaving on the 17th for a west coast trip. I’m sure I’ll be up there sometime in the spring for some show, though.
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I’m jealous, there is so little live music in Ithaca and most everything else is far enough away that I don’t want to go to a show then drive home later that night, especially during wintry conditions. Covid numbers are down around me so i’m feeling pretty comfortable at this point, just need more opportunity.
Julien is such a fantastic songwriter (Go Home, from Sprained Ankle is absolutely incredible) and I love Lucy’s voice, Home Video has grown on me a lot over the past few months
Agreed 100%
It was so different that it didn’t register lol, will have to listen when not working.
I forgot to respond to this tidbit, I think it’s marginally better. Despite playing the piano for years and having some musical talent in my family I have no confidence, I’m probably subconsciously biasing my results lol. They have a “hifi +” (or something) offering that is twice as much money, I think I could’ve trialed that for free but I didn’t want to pay that so didn’t give myself the option.
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Went to make dinner tonight, plan was Greek Turkey burgers. Began with the yogurt-based sauce, tasted the yogurt, it was vanilla flavored. Called a very necessary audible and made a mediocre chicken, rice, cream, bell pepper dish. Also ate the cup of vanilla yogurt I scooped out for the sauce. Got a lactaid in me so I’m hoping tomorrow will be fine gut-wise.
Did 20 min of beginner yoga, my hips, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, traps, and forearms are all between pretty sore and nearly immobile. Think the RDL set of 290 x 10 is nearly as much to blame as the cleans. Deadlifts will be interesting tomorrow, I don’t believe soreness is a good predictor for performance and I’ve been eating well/enough the past 3+ days so I am still keeping expectations high, hoping to keep the streak of 8 or more going for my 1+ sets.
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Early wake up, mental health corporate meeting (kill me), therapy, deadlifts.
Have another meeting soon and need to do a bit before it so this was quick
Jumps: 1x5
Shoulder warmup, low back warmup
DL:135 x 5, 225 x 5, 275 x 2 (belt pinching), 325 x 5, 365 x 3, 410 x 9 (woo), 325 5x5
Form felt much better today, brace is gradually improving, hip positioning/initial movement can still improve but happy with today’s effort. Had at least one more in me but it would’ve been grindy.
Will post the video later and get some super light assistance and a few more jumps in
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That is one mighty deadlift heretolog
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Thanks, my dude, trying to be like @tlgains when I grow up!
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