Things felt really off and I’m not sure why. I feel like technically things feel different every time. I thought 5 reps with 85kg might end up a bit grindy with how I felt so I decided to do more of a ladder approach. I got videos of the sets with 75kg and 85kg which I’ll post below. Funnily pause squats felt quite easy. Felt pretty disheartened by the end of these though and really didn’t feel like doing the usual dumbell stuff.
Ab circuit (2 rounds):
Russian twists x10 each side
Sit ups x8
Lying leg raises x5
Did this mixed in with some stretches and felt a bit less sorry for myself by the end so did a little extra assistance stuff.
Trap bar carries superset with press ups:
3x20mx60?/ 3x10
Did this with basically no rest between sets. Got my heart rate up a fair bit. The empty trap bar felt heavier than 20kg which I assumed it weighed. Is there a standard weight for them and if so what is it?
Bodyweight last time I got weighed a few days ago was 86.2kg so at least that’s finally gone down and I definitely think I’m a little less fat.
Finally here’s the videos of the squats. I haven’t had a really good look at them yet but from watching them once between sets it seems I might be hyperextending as I unrack which is definitely something I’ve only started doing recently and I know that I walk around a fair after but I’m working on that. The main thing I want opinions on though is the actual squatting so please chime in with any comments you have. I might get videos of my other lifts too then create a form check thread.
You could squeeze your glutes during the descent better to reduce buttwink, but there’s nothing that leapt out as a major issue to me. Even the buttwink isn’t huge. Walkout isn’t too bad either.
Very sore from yesterday so this wasn’t particularly fun. I normally leave at least a day between work outs but I was busy Monday and it’s more convenient if I workout today and Friday so I went back to back. 70kg felt very slow and heavy but 75kg wasn’t too bad. I tried thinking less about technique and it did seem to help a bit.
Good PR for my last plus set in the near future and something to build on. An 11th rep may have been there but I wasn’t confident enough to try without a spotter or safeties.
Sled push:
6x20mx20
Pretty horrible. Starting to understand how hard sled work can make you feel like you’re dying. Did it with no rest other than to move the handles to the other side every 10m (had to turn) until after the third run then had 30s then went back at it non stop again. I was thinking of running and mentioned it before but I think I’ll do this instead and try adding one more run each time until 10 then either add weight or go for time, maybe both on different days.
Good productive workout overall, going to try and remember to get weighed tomorrow morning. Excited to start the BBB program.
Squats felt very good today, the best they have in a long time. I wanted to take advantage of it and try something a little heavier to see how it felt so I decided to work up to my TM in triples. The first two reps felt very good then I misgrooved the third by trying to go a bit low but even that didn’t feel bad. I got a video which I’ll post at the bottom.
11 is a PR with 37.5kg I think but these 10 reps weren’t too bad and my elbow felt a bit funny anyway so it’s still decent. I keep sleeping on my side with my arm extended out and I think I keep over-extending it a bit which is making my elbow kind of stiff.
Deadlift (TM-105):
2x5x60, 5x80, 5x90, 5x100
Snatch grip deadlift: 2x3x80, 5x80
Used straps on the top set rather than struggling with my grip or having to use mixed grip and it felt so much easier. I had no idea it would be that different with my grip out of the equation. I think I’ll do this more often for my top sets if I’m getting plenty of grip work from elsewhere. Did three sets of three banded pull ups before first three sets too. Video below of 5x100 set and last snatch grip set.
Looking at the video; squats look fine other than the rep I misgrooved, deadlift my hips look a bit high and I need to stop looking up but other than that I’m not sure.
BW: 86.6kg
Basically where it was last time and close to where I started. This was the last full body template workout and the end of me trying to cut down a bit. Despite not losing basically any weight I do think I’m a bit leaner and more importantly I’ve learnt that I probably need to track what I eat at the stage to be successful with it. Going to eat a little more now to account for doing a bit more work and hopefully stay around where I am weight wise.
Superset with:
10 chins
Ab wheel rollouts from knees- 5x5
1x BW hang (underhand)- 30s
Incline dumbell press (25 reps): 12.5x15,10
Doesn’t look like much to log but it was a decent workout. Will definitely be once the weights start getting heavier. Did a chin between each set with a BW hang after the last one instead and sets of five roll outs after each BBB set. Will stick with one chin between sets for at least a couple of weeks and make them progressively harder by slowing it down and coming to a complete dead hang before adding reps.
I could definitely tell I’m out of the habit of higher reps sets and even with such light weight it was kind of difficult. Whole workout took less than an hour- once I’m more used to the BBB sets I can see myself getting through it in 45 minutes.
Another decent workout. Worked in on bench with a guy I met a few weeks ago who’s into powerlifting and we talked about training together in future which was good. Bench sets all felt very fast and easy. Rows I kept conservative and I’ll just add a little more weight each week while they’re going well. For at least this cycle I want to keep them fairly strict and my torso mostly horizontal. I’ll just record sled work as 1 meaning to the end of the track and back because I don’t really know how long it is and it doesn’t matter. My lower body and abs are very sore from yesterday and I suspect my upper body will be tomorrow too.
Press ups (25 reps) superset with sit ups (25 reps):
10, 8, 7/ 8, 9, 8
Even taking my time this only took about 45 minutes and I’m sure I could get through it in half an hour quite easily so I’m debating adding in more deadlifts. Potentially going up to 8x5 then 10x5 over the next two cycles or maybe something like 6x4 then 8x3 however I’m also thinking I should just stick with doing the bare minimum I need to and enjoy the quick workouts.
During the deadlifts one of the personal trainers there mentioned I was over extending at the lockout and another mentioned it separately about ten minutes later so I should probably be careful with that. One also suggested I widen my stance slightly which I tried on my last FSL set and quite liked. Usually the inside of my leg is about level with where the center knurling starts but I moved it to where the outside of my legs were around where the outer knurling starts instead. My grip didn’t really need to get any wider either so could be onto something. I’ll try it again next week. Also sat back a bit more today and made an effort to be tighter as I started the lift.
For the assistance I’ll keep at it until I can do a decent set of 25 then I’ll move to a harder/different variation and repeat. Probably press ups on knuckles then diamond push ups then eventually dips and for abs; russian twists, lying leg raises, v sit ups and hanging leg raises if I do dips.
My log is probably going to be very boring over the next few months.
Cable push downs superset with cable curls:
4x25 each
Standing calf raises: 1x15 (stretch at bottom)
Average workout. Overhead presses felt heavy and a bit all over the place- the sets of ten were quite hard, especially the first three. Switched my grip from thumbless to thumbs around during the third BBB set which I liked. Going to try adding a few throws and jumps in between my warm ups like today. I had half an hour to kill at the end waiting to be picked up so did some very easy isolation stuff to kill time. I’ve got a new job and I’m on my feet a decent amount so my legs get quite achy but stretching my calves felt really good so I may add that in every week.
I was doing it on both squats and overhead press previously just because I found it comfortable but I decided to see how it felt with thumbs around. For overhead press I think it helps because I can squeeze the bar more but I haven’t noticed much difference with squats. I’ve got plenty of time and reps to practice the big lifts at the minute so I’m experimenting a bit with things.
How do feel about the BBB sets for the squat ? How sore are you the day after ? Similar questions for the other lifts, just so I know what is waiting for me! thanks!
They’ve been quite humbling and definitely harder than I thought. I think conditioning has a big factor to play and the fact I’ve done so few sets over five reps recently. I’ve also found the last two sets to be easier than the first few so it’s probably somewhat mental too. It’s definitely a lot easier for the bench press than squat and overhead press is sort of in the middle.
I definitely think they’re going to make me stronger though. I doubt something this different to what I’m used to couldn’t make me stronger if I’m working hard. My only concern with them is keeping my technique good as the reps get hard. I know a couple of times, particularly today, I dive bombed my squats a bit in an attempt to make them easier and if I’m not careful I could imagine I’d do a similar thing with bench press.
After the first squat workout I was pretty sore, the worst I have been in a long time. It was like I’d not squatted in weeks. This could probably be helped by nutrition and just general recovery though and I think pushing the sled will have helped. The ab wheel also left me really sore but I think it was because I haven’t used it in months. The rest of my upper body wasn’t that bad other than my lats a little bit which I think was from the extra pull ups and hangs. My hamstrings were very sore for a couple of days after deadlifts even though I only did 5x5. Ultimately I think it’ll come down to what you were doing before and are used to. I’ll let you know how sore I am tomorrow and whether I’ve adapted at all.
It’ll be interesting to see how it translates to my 1-5RM come October but until then I’ll just be happy to hit all the numbers I have planned and can’t do much more than guess.
One of the personal trainers was using the area I push the sled in and she was taking a long time so ended up not doing those. Providing it doesn’t rain too much I’ll run up the big hill near my house a few times instead, luckily I’ve nothing else planned all afternoon.
Not much else to note really. I started to briefly pause the BBB sets just enough to completely control the weight and make sure my technique is spot on. Slightly upped the reps on pull aparts and will do each week.
Deadlifts felt good, played around a bit with stance width but not sure if I liked anything more than my usual one. I was looking at the 5/3/1 beach body challenge and it includes hang cleans so I thought I’d see how they felt. I might add them in before deadlifts next cycle with a low TM and do minimum 5/3/1 reps. Press ups were easy but sit ups not so much surprisingly and I added some calf raises again because I like how they feel.
