Because I fucked up my back and OHP/Military press didn’t feel good on my back at the time. I was surprisingly weak on high incline so I thought I would keep doing it. It looks like I’m making some progress on bench so I’m doing something right.
And in case you are wondering, I do OHP seated for two reasons, first to save my back because I deadlift the next day. Also because my basement has low ceilings (and ducts and pipes and so on) so it’s just not possible.
Tuesday, September 17 - Main squat day
Looks like I’m sick, nothing major but last night it hit me and I felt like absolute shit, I went to bed just after 8:30. But I barely slept too, my sinuses are all stuffed up and I kept waking up and tossing and turning, I would have felt worse if I didn’t go to bed so early. I guess that explains why I wasn’t feeling so great yesterday. I didn’t feel great this morning, but it want terrible either so I figured I would still try to train as planned and just see how it goes, it was alright I suppose.
Squat
465x2 - I was planning to go for 3 but it might have killed me if I tried. At least this is 5lbs over last week. I think last week it moved faster, but at least I got something done.
410x3x3 - These were harder than expected, but I feel like shit so whatever. My squat technique actually looks pretty good now, like it should.
Pause squat
355x5x2 sets - I would have pushed for 6 reps but it’s hardly worth it. Probably better than I could have done 2 weeks ago though.
Split stance RDL
175x8x3 - These felt surprisingly good, as in not absolutely fucking horrible.
Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself. All I know is I would have been more pissed off if I skipped this workout or turned it into a deload, so that’s a win I guess. Now I have to go to work. I have paid sick days but right now there is nobody to replace me because they are all sick or injured.
Next week is definitely a deload. The week after I think I will o for 475x3, if I can do 465x2 when I feel like this then that should be easy.
Thursday, September 19 - 2nd bench day
I’m still sick, but much better than the last few days. Overall I feel OK but my nose and sinuses are congested and my lungs are full of phlegm. I finally got a good night’s sleep last night but when I got up I felt like I could sleep for another 4 hours, unfortunately that wasn’t an option since I had to get my kids to school.
Bench press
375x1 - Not bad at all but not quite a good as last week, blame it on getting sick I guess. Still probably could have doubled it.
Slingshot bench
420x3 - This was good, didn’t plan to do more than a triple since I barely managed 415x4 last week but if I felt better I would have tried to squeeze out another rep.
380x6 - I should have done another rep at least, I was starting to feel lazy at this point though. And more lazy after.
Military press
230x4 - This was not so great, aside from just feeling tired my right shoulder was also bugging me a bit. On Sunday night I slept weird and woke up with my right arm numb and my shoulder hurting, it didn’t affect my bench on Monday but I felt it when I did incline. It seemed like it was fine since then and I didn’t feel anything today until I got to this exercise, I guess since it’s mostly shoulders I felt it more. It seems like something is kind of cramped up in the front of the right deltoid, nothing serious but not really worth pushing through it either. Also I’m feeling tired and lazy so fuck it. I was definitely more determined to squat on Tuesday than I was to finish this workout, and it probably would have been shit from this point anyway.
So a few band pull aparts to finish off and that’s it. I don’t have to work or do much of anything else today so I’m just going to relax for a bit.
Jesus that’s a strong bench. You’ve hit 405 before iirc?
390 is my best bench so far, I should have been able to do more since I did 390 for multiple singles in training, and it looked easy, but at my last meet I attempted 400 (whatever it is in kilos) and failed.
Friday, September 20 - Light squat/main deadlift day
Squat
315x2x6 - 45 sec. rest - moving well
Deadlift - sumo
515x3 - Not bad seeing as it’s only my 2nd time pulling sumo since injuring my back, plus I’m still sick. Looked like I could still do another rep too, not grindy at all. Warmups felt like shit until the last two singles, technique feels weird but this is only 40lb off my best triple so things aren’t looking too bad at all. Also no back discomfort or pain or anything, this doesn’t feel like a risk for blowing out my back unlike conventional.
Down set: 465x3 - I was going to go for 5-6 reps but I guess I put all my energy into the top set, 3 reps wasn’t too hard at all but I just felt like I had nothing left after I put the bar down. Since I got sick it looks like my strength isn’t really affected so much, but I get tired faster. Whatever, the most important work got done, deload next week and then get things moving again.
So anyway, I cut it there, I wasn’t really planning on doing more than that since I still feel sick and I’m tired, despite sleeping well the last two nights. It would have been better to get a couple more reps on that down set but I don’t have the energy to care. In retrospect, I probably should have cut my workout short on Tuesday too.
Monday, September 23 - Main bench day - deload
Bench press
320x2
290x3
Floor press
290x3x2
High incline
235x2
210x3
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw x7x2
Tuesday, September 24 - Main squat day - deload
Squat
420x2
370x2x2
pause squat
320x3x2
Split stance RDL
160x6x2
Thursday, September 26 - 2nd bench day - deload
Bench press
340x1
Slingshot bench
380x2
345x3
Military press
210x3x2
JM press
200x6x2
Underhand band pull apart
super mini x15x2
Barbell row
75x12x2
Which variation of the JM press do you perform?
EX: I go down until upper arms are parallel to the floor, then roll back into skull crusher position, then press flaring elbows hard straight up.
What are your thoughts on reverse hypers for back health? I read that Stuart McGill doesn’t like people doing full situps. What about a partial reverse hyper keeping the back extended?
I do it pretty much how JM show to do it in the two videos I have seen.
He has that in some of his books as a safer alternative, but it seems to me like that defeats the whole purpose of reverse hypers. Any other hip hinge movement will do the same thing and doesn’t require a reverse hyper.
Friday, September 27 - Light squat/main deadlift day - deload
Squat
315x2x6 - 45 sec. rest
Deadlift (sumo)
465x2
420x3x2
Barbell row
270x8x2
I’m looking forward to getting back to regular training next week, deloads are boring.
I think I honestly might just switch back to sumo. Never had a single problem with my back when I pulled that way. But over the past few weeks I’ve realized how weak my core and posterior chain is and Kenny’s post in the other thread enlightened me quite a bit.
Lol care to share? I’ve seen a million different ways to do them and I’m just curious which you use.
Like this:
I figured there is no better way to learn to JM press than from JM himself.
Monday, September 30 - Main bench day
This sucked
Bench press
360x2- failed 3rd rep, first two were easy, not sure what happened
325x5 - This was hard, no way I could do another rep, looks like strength is down today
Floor press
325x4, 3 - This sucked too
High incline
265x3
240x5
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+35x10, 7, 5
Everything today is a rep or two short of where it should be. I don’t really know what happened since I’m well rested and there is no way I can say I’m not recovered. It could have to do with the fact that I had a sort of extended deload due to getting sick, but the weird thing is that I was performing better while sick/starting to get sick. I’m not really sure but this was not a good day for me at all.
Tuesday, October 1 - Main squat day
Squat
475x2 - I wanted a triple but I wasn’t sure about a 3rd rep, 50/50 chance it would have gone up. Not quite what I was aiming for but it’s the best yet in recent times. Depth is good, only technical issue I seem to have is on the 2nd rep I let my hips rise a bit too fast but nothing major. Not great, but I’m on the right track.
420x3x3
High bar pause squat
315x5x2 - First set felt weird, I haven’t done a HB squat in longer than I can remember. This should fix the hip rising issue. Dead squats help with that too but I find they mess up my descent and after a few weeks I have trouble hitting depth, probably due to the fact that they teach you to get as tight as possible in a position above parallel.
Split stance RDL
185x8x3
This was alright overall, only thing that could have been better is a triple on the top set but it was definitely better than yesterday’s benching. I think I’m going to have to drop the weights a bit and add some reps and work back up since I’m doing hard doubles on squat and bench now.
Is it maybe a pattern you’ve observed in your training before at all? Might just be normal even if it does bum us out
No, not really. One thing I was considering was that maybe it has to do with not deloading for a long time and then having a deload last week. A few years ago I was listening to some people who said never to deload and so on, I started to realize I was basically chronically overreaching so I took a 1 week deload and the next few weeks my lifts were way down. But anyway, my squat workout on Tuesday wasn’t significantly worse than expected and today’s bench and stuff went well. I guess I just had a shitty day for no explainable reason.