Awesome write up man and I love that you ran deepwater. I had the same takeaways after running it. I also found that my overall mental intensity and willingness to endure bullshit increased.
I also hate the ab work. It’s frustratingly difficult, but so simple.
Lol, awesome.
@T3hPwnisher @Koestrizer @boilerman thanks for the comments, guys! Reassuring to hear the struggles were not just mine.
And yea, I have hit 365 on front squats pretty cleanly but haven’t prioritized them in forever, I figure I should be able to get back to that in a bit and hit 4 plates not too long after. We’ll see how my hips and back feel though, I don’t need to hit this would just be fun.
Hit 100 consecutive 24kg swings between grilling and checking things in the oven last night, 50 degrees and sunny in February, I’ll take it!
Will hit something later on in the day, not sure what yet.
Had about 15 min before a meeting so got a bit in, plan is to do a bit more.
FS: 135 2 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 3, 275 x 3, 315 x 3
Axle RDL: 170 x 10
Pretty darn awesome!
KB Swings: 50 x 24kg
Peloton: 20 min recovery ride @ 122 watts
KB Swings: 50 x 24kg
Enjoyed this setup, legs sucked for the first bit, knees were a little sore but loosened up midway through the ride. Was mostly low intensity, quick legs.
I’ve been planning on implementing kb swings on a regular basis, thinking I’ll start next week with 500 per week, increment 100 a week until I reach 1k per week then increment by 50 until I reach some point I feel is sufficient? Maybe 1500?
Dread conditioning but don’t mind swings so figure this is an easy way to keep a minimum amount in.
First day of the self made scheme, not sure how I want the progression to go and I’m touching the axle for the first time in months.
Pull-ups: green band 3 x 5
Axle bench: 260 4 x 8
Axle Close Grip: 210 x 10
Band flyes: 2 x 10
Freddy kreuger WOD:
24kg KB swings + burpees
For
21-15-9
Finished in 6:14
That WOD was way harder than it had any right to be, breathing like crazy, good reminder. Did the first 10 burpees with a push-up but that was causing too much discomfort so bailed on that.
I was planning on doing more bench work but my left shoulder/pec felt weak, sore and unstable so I called it there. Probably just getting used to the home setup and the implement again, will keep an eye on it. 260 was tough because of this, was planning on dropping to 4 x 6 next week but may keep it higher rep until my shoulder improves
Was getting ready to post this then realized I didn’t do abs, which I’m committing to.
2 rounds in 4 minutes
Plank 40s
Bird dogs 20s per side
Crunches 30
Didn’t lift yesterday, was just absolutely dragging from the go, might be a touch sick, probably just mental. GF convinced me to go on a few mile snowy hike, was beautiful outside, so at least got that done.
Ended up doing a combo back/shoulder workout to make up for missing yesterday
19 min walk
Clean into push press: 135 3 x 5, 185 2 x 5
Rack pulls (knee): 185 x 5, 275 x 5, 365 2 x 5
KB SA strict press: 45 3 x 12
Facepulls: 110 3 x 15
Pull-ups: 4, -52 2 x 8
Dips: -52 2 x 15
Lateral raises ss db curl: 20 x 15, 25 x 12
Kind of a shitshow of a workout, didnt bring my workout bag or any of my stuff, so kept weights a touch lighter, which is probably a good move every now and then.
Cleans were rusty as hell, the width at which they feel good is wider than my push press grip so that felt janky too. They got better throughout the workout but still never good. Rack pulls, which I think I’ll keep as my supplemental were hard, breaking the weight requires me to brace way harder than I have been, think it’s exactly what I need.
Everything else was fine, wrists didn’t like the last few reps of the dips but that should be ameliorated by wraps.
Planning on hitting some legs tomorrow, either at home or the gym, if I wake up in time.
Diet has been hit or miss since starting the cut, first two days were awful but have been decent since. Bought 6.17lbs of 90/10 ground beef yesterday, so got that ready at least
Edit:
Knocked out a 10 min core yoga, was definitely much easier than it would’ve been before deep water
Leg day
Band Pull-ups: 6,5,5
FS: 225 3 x 8
Axle RDL: 170 3 x 10 (no belt, with straps)
Split squats: bw x 10, 28 2 x 10
Crunches: 2 x 30
Got through all of that in about 30 minutes, breathing quite hard.
I did all of my DW pull-ups with a neutral grip, have rotated supinated and pronated since, definitely weaker than neutral.
My knees are making a lot of noise, I think the elevated heel is partly to blame, which is unfortunate. Will keep going and hope I adjust.
Abs are smoked from that 10 min session yesterday, felt it in very movement.
Started my swings last night, shooting for 500 this week. Did 75 last night and have managed 100 today.
Weekly swings:
175/500
Ankle mobility/warmup work? Remove shoes and go socks/bare feet?
Solid work in here.
Thanks dude!
I could probably use some more mobility work but can get to depth pretty comfortably. Deep squat holds have helped in the past though, maybe I’ll throw those back in.
I think dropping the shoes probably would help with the knee pain but they help my torso positioning and front rack so much that I think I’ll keep using them (and probably complaining about them) for a few more weeks. I’ve hit front squats for probably 8-10 weeks in a row, so might just need to rotate them out after that.
1 week of the “cut” is over.
Went from 285.4 → 283.8
-1.6 lbs
Definitely had pretty mediocre adherence, had domino’s once (loaded tots are mediocre, if you’re tempted @tlgains), had ice cream, had a (delicious) fried fish sandwich with fries and slaw, had a decent amount of other random stuff but I maintained a solid base overall, not even trying to be perfect here because I know that isn’t how I work but better compliance overall is a goal and will be more necessary as I get leaner.
Did some KB swings to get closer to the weekly goal and might do a light peloton tonight, feeling a bit beat up in the hips and lower back, knees feel good though.
KB swings: 24kg 25, 30, 35, 40
Took short breaks to make sure a newly deployed long-running task was still long-running but didn’t time the kb efforts.
Weekly swings 305/500
Edit:
“Light peloton” turned into 20 min of “slow flow” yoga. Felt fantastic on the hips, low back, and hamstrings.
Body is feeling too sticky and slow to want to hit a heavy/optional day, stuck with conditioning instead.
Peloton “low impact” 30 min @ 132
8 min max reps, rotate the below.
25 24kg kb swings
10 pushups
Made it through 7 rounds and 13 swings before the timer went off, started slow but got moving in the middle, was feeling the hurt by the end. Definitely lots of room to improve here
Knocked out 7 more swings to finish off the weekly requirement
Weekly swings:
500/500
Took yesterday all the way off which felt like the right decision.
Almost did the same today, even though it didn’t feel like the right decision but snuck in at the end of the day.
Shoulder warmup
Barbell bench: 135 x 10, 225 x 5, 275 x 3, 315 x 2, 345 x 1, 365 x 1, 385 x 1 (ties barbell PR), 275 2 x 6, 1 x 10
Dips: bodyweight x 10, -40 x 20
Pullups: -40 1 x 6
Plan on doing a few more assisted pullups and maybe a quick WOD to get the heart beating.
Benching on the fat pad is incredible, so much stability, I don’t know when the last time I touched 300+ without the slingshot was but it was probably August or earlier, so hitting 385 is super encouraging, especially since weight is trending down. I only rested ~2 min before the set too, I get antsy waiting too long. I don’t think I had much more than 390 in me with that amount of rest but maybe 395 with another minute, who knows. In any case, light work is so effective for my bench, wish it was the same for DL and squat.
Also tried bodyweight dips for the first time in probably a decade, was slightly off balance but felt reasonably strong.
Freddy Kreuger 21-15-9 for time: 5:13
24kg Kb swings
Burpees
Band pull-ups: 6,5
Knocked a bunch of time off, partially because I didn’t do pushups with the burpees and partially because I went harder.
Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow but have a massage scheduled for the early afternoon, so excited
Gotdamn you bench as much as I squat
Ha, I bench almost as much as I squat too, to be fair!
I remember reading something a few years back that essentially said “if you’re really inclined towards a lift, lean into it” (maybe Wendler), I’m not really leaning that hard but i embrace that I’m built for bench.
Awesome bench! What’s a fat pad?
A bench that is wider and thicker than a standard/competition one. Allows me to set my shoulders more easily and stabilize. Probably more useful for me than you lol
I don’t know if this link will be removed, google Thompson Fat Pad, if so.
Oh very cool!
Back day
Hang cleans: 95 x 10, 135 2 x 5, 185 2 x 3
Pull-ups: 1 x 5
BB row: 185, 225, 245 x 10
Rack pull (knee): 225, 315, 405, 455, 505 x 5
Lat pulldown: 120 x 12, 130 x 10, 140 x 8
Hammer curls: 25 x 10, 30 x 8, 35 x 6 straight into 20 x 15
Back extension: 2 x 20
Ss w/ crunches: 2 x 30
My clean technique and catch just isn’t good enough for them to be a primary movement, keeping them as a warmup and focusing on technique seems like a decent compromise.
Rack pulls are hard to break off the rack but tax my brace and middle back incredibly well, think this will prep my deadlift nicely when I get back to it.
Everything else felt great, shower then massage. Might do a peloton tonight