Monday, May 25 - Squat day
Squat - wraps - kraits
555x2 - I finally managed a heavy double on my top set but no video, I was so focused on the set that either I forgot to push record or didn’t push it right or something, the camera was on and pointed at the rack but no video. Anyway, this was alright, most I have doubled in these wraps and 10lbs short of my best double in the super heavies. I had to strain a bit on the 2nd rep but nothing major, I could probably double another 20-30lbs. Not sure about depth because no video but it didn’t feel like I cut it high and before this I squatted 515 to depth, so at least that is improving.
I’m starting to like these wraps more the more I use them, they are probably the most comfortable wraps I have used and they are fairly easy to wrap too. The super heavies give me a few more pounds but they are a pain in the ass to wrap and uncomfortable too, at the very least I will use the kraits in training most of the time.
Squat - sleeves
395x3x3 - In case anyone is wondering since I was talking about rest periods in another thread, these are fairly easy work sets so I don’t rest long. I’m not strictly controlling rest periods but it’s about 3 minutes, although it was probably 10 minutes between my top set in wraps and the first of these.
Band bad girl
light band x18, 15
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Looks like back to business. I’ve been thinking about stuff you’ve previously said about low volume and I think it may be working well for me. I think I’ll stray on the side of lower volume that my training app offers for a while and see what happens.
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It also depends on how hard you are pushing each set, if you are within a few reps of failure then you can’t do nearly as much total volume as if you only do submax work and stay 4+ reps from failure.
If you are past the point where you can make fast progress then as long as you are still making noticeable gains then you are doing something right, but if you can do it with less volume then it will be more sustainable in the long term. Some people make quick gains with high volume but then overuse injuries and just generally burning out are much more likely. Adding 100lbs to your total in a few months sounds good, but where will you be in 2-3 years?
Another thing to consider, for people who do respond well to high volume, is that you could alternate periods of higher volume with low volume phases where you either just maintain strength or make minimal progress. It might sound like you are being lazy and wasting time, but in the long term that could be the best approach because you will avoid burning out (it can be mentally hard to do high volume training for an extended period) and also connective tissues recover much lower than muscles so you will decrease the risk of injury.
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I think it’s worthwhile af for everyone to try out all volume approaches because there’s plenty of people who respond better to lower volumes even if high volume is in fashion. Re evaluating is constant of course. At least seems to be working for me right now. Also seems sustainable which is very important to me given history of back injury. Almost less exciting in a way because gains seem steady not much uncertainty.
Decent chunk added on my total this year too but like I said seems sustainable. I can make it better by eating/sleeping better but that’s optional. Ur rate of gains numbers like 100 lbs are arbitrary but I think a big thing is not forcing adaption or rate of adaption. Hitting intensities too high to try to get certain numbers of upping volume to speed things up but easily backfire.
Hopefully this keeps being sustainable even if I diet a little. Depending on when I can finally get my first meet looking at 600kg minimum or if it’s a bit later because of life/corona virus maybe go for 1400 lbs because it’s a nice round number in freedom units.
The juggernaut AI relatively high volume and plenty of stalled lifters to balance out their successes. Theoretically machine learning should get there in time but I dunno how responsive the algorithms are. Sheiko AI is lower volume overall and is more responsive to signs ur digging urself into an unproductive hole I think
I can see why the JTS thing was too much, Chad and Mike Israetel were really pushing high volume training for a while. They are right about a lot of things, but that is one that doesn’t work for a lot (or most) of people. At one time I was always trying to figure out how to add another set here and there because I thought it would get me the best gains, if I wasn’t dead at the end of a workout I should have done more and if I’m not totally burnt out after a few weeks then volume is too low. In the end it turns out that I do much better putting a lot of effort into fewer sets and not pushing the limits of recovery.
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Wednesday, May 27 - Main bench day
Bench press
380x2 - Slow lockout on the 2nd rep but better than last week and 5lbs more so I can’t complain
340x4x2 sets - Not trying to grind too much so only 4 on each set
Floor pause DB flys
75’s x15, 10 - all out on the first set to get that last rep, nothing left after
Front raise
75x11, 65x11
Side raise
35’s x15, 11 - My lower back cramped up a bit on the 2nd set, I think I’m extending my back too much on this sometimes. Its not the first time either, I think I will do this seated from now on.
Friday, May 29 - Deadlift day
This wasn’t supposed to be an easy session but it sort of turned into one. As I mentioned, on Wednesday my lower back cramped up a bit doing side raises of all things, it relaxed a few minutes later but after sitting down for a bit my hip flexors tightened up. It wasn’t anything severe and I felt it in the front of my hips more than anything, but they were still a bit tight today. I wasn’t sure how things would go, on my first few deadlift warmup sets it felt like I was pulling against my hip flexors more than the weight but by the time I got to 505 for my last warmup they were feeling OK so I went with the originally planned top set.
Sumo
545x2 - I should have had a 3rd rep for sure but the bar rolled away from me, even more on the left side too. This was nothing great and obviously didn’t go how I wanted it to but considering that my hip flexors were messing with me I can’t complain. I will make up for it next week.
Conventional
This is where I ran into some more trouble. I pulled 405x2 for a warmup set and it didn’t feel good on my hip flexors at all. I’m basically pulling my hips into full flexion to get into position for this, so it’s like I’m engaging my hip flexors but then they don’t want to let go when I pull, just like it felt on sumo warmups. I put 455 on the bar and figured I would see how it goes but just getting into position didn’t feel right so I decided to play it safe and skip this. Not worth messing up my hip flexors even more, or even worse injuring my back pulling with messed up technique. I’m kind of paranoid with conventional because I messed my back up bad once when I used to pull like that.
Chin ups - wide overhand grip
bw x15, 10 - not bad considering I haven’t done them like this in a while, I really felt it in my mid back right below my shoulder blades.
I don’t get it how 35lb side raises can lead to a bunch of problem like this, but it’s not the first time my back cramped up on them either so I think I will just do them seated so that I can’t try to cheat or change my torso position. Also I think sitting on the couch might have something to do with my hip flexors messing around. I don’t normally watch TV much and I don’t sit on the couch a lot but options are limited these days with all the shutdown stuff and we have a bunch of free movie channels right now too so I have been watching some movies in the evening. The thing with this couch is that the seat part is a bit too long it seems, like you have to lean way back onto the back part. I usually prop myself up with some cushions because otherwise after a while it feels like I’m doing a situp. I have had issues with my hip flexors on and off for a long time, but I’m pretty sure this has something to do with it too.
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I think we all want juicy tren delts so is important to get to the bottom of this. R u breathing and bracing / maintaining neutral spine position during the lift?
What are you talking about, side raises? I don’t brace like I’m going to squat 600lbs, but there is some bracing going on. I think it has to do with extending my back a bit too much, like my shoulder start to fatigue and I’m trying to push with other parts of the body that can’t actually do anything. I’m not swinging the weight, I just start arching my back.
It’s not worth getting worked up about, I will just do them seated. I do front raises seated because standing they do fatigue the back a bit (the weight is light but the fact that it’s held out from the body means more force on your lower back) and doing it seated is at least as good plus you can’t cheat, might as well do the same for front raises.
My hip flexors were actually a little bit tight before training on Wednesday, it wasn’t an issue at the time but the side raises made it one. The funny thing, it messed up my deadlift session yesterday but by the evening my hip flexors calmed down and this morning they feel fine. It pisses me off, basically a wasted workout for nothing. At least if I was actually fatigued and needed an easy day that would be something, this was just bullshit.
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Saturday, May 30 - 2nd bench day
My hip flexors felt fine until I laid down on the bench, then I realized they were still a bit tight since you have to fully extend or hyperextend your hips to bench. It wasn’t terrible and it got better on each set as I worked up, but it did throw me off a bit.
Bench press
375x1 - Not bad but not as fast as last week, felt like I had no leg drive.
Slingshot bench
435x2 - 2nd rep was slow and didn’t want to risk failing so that was it, but my hip flexors felt much better after this set.
395x5 - Could have done at least one more rep but only planned for 5. I did 385x6 two weeks ago so this seemed like a safe bet, can’t really complain.
JM press
265x8, 6
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x3 sets
I think my hip flexors are back to normal, I just need to keep them that way. This time wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough to affect two workouts. I need to make sure to avoid things that irritate them, too much sitting (and worse on this couch) and certain exercises (like ab wheel rollouts or that bodyweight quad exercise I did last time) seem to be the main things that do it. It’s frustrating when your body doesn’t want to cooperate.
Monday, June 1 - Squat day
Squat - wraps - Kraits
565x2 - good and bad, ties my best triple (which was in super heavies) and no significant form breakdown but not quite depth. Also spent too much time wiggling around under the bar before unracking it, which isn’t really a big deal in training but in a meet I would run the risk of timing out. Sometimes it’s hard to find the right spot.
Comparing this to my squats without wraps, I think I know why I have issues with depth sometimes. In wraps it looks like I’m letting my knees travel too far forward, it’s not a huge difference but enough to make it hard to hit depth. I need to sit back just a little bit more.
Squat - sleeves
405x3x3 - no problem with depth here
Band bad girl
light band x20, 17
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Hmm I can kinda relate. Maybe it’s just a part of transitioning away from a quad dominant style squat for me but I find that in knee wraps I’m pushing into the wraps / knees forward more unconsciously to load em up and get more assistance but its a bit off from the form a wanna be using. In sleeves is not an issue but in wraps needa consciously be aware and be more confident in ma hip drahve
If that’s the way you can lift the most then there is nothing wrong with it, it’s possible that a slightly different technique in wraps could be better. The issue in my case is that I need to consistently squat to depth, and the change in technique is part of the issue.
Not sure which ways best for myself. Does throw off bar path a bit
I would just go with whatever feels better as long as you aren’t doing anything that will either limit how much you can lift or get you red lights in a meet.
Wednesday, June 3 - Main bench day
This didn’t really go well so I decided to cut it short. I can’t really say I feel fatigued at all but I guess I lack motivation to some degree today, I just don’t have the usual drive. Also my right pec (pec minor I think) is a little tight, probably has to do with knee wrapping or maybe sleeping on my right side. I figured I would still try and see how things go, but in the end I decided to shut it down early. I guess I’m back to the point that I need to throw in some easy sessions here and there.
Bench press
385x1 - Went for a double and failed the 2nd rep. First one moved well but I got stuck on the 2nd and it wasn’t going anywhere, not a near miss but an utter failure an not due to anything technical. Seeing as this was worse than last week’s performance and I wasn’t really feeling it today I decided I would cut this workout short.
325x5 - I still did a down set, didn’t really push it too hard though. I could have done a couple more reps for sure, I just didn’t want to feel like this workout was a complete waste of time so I did a 2nd work set.
That’s it!
I will see how I feel on Friday, maybe instead of a heavy sumo DL top set I will do some lighter singles.
I couldn’t remember if I had benched 385x2 before, turns out I did back in March. I made some minor adjustments to my setup (to keep my ass from coming off the bench) since then but lately it was looking like my bench might be ahead of where it was before.
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Friday, June 5 - Deadlift day
Sumo
560x2 - This was good, had another rep in the tank for sure too. This is 15lb away from my best double, and I think it was easier too. Not a PR, but a PR should be there.
Conventional - straps - beltless
455x5x2 sets - this is feeling better and better every week, maybe one day my conventional deadlift will be worth something. RPE 7-8 on the lower back but moved real easy, if my back was made of steel maybe I could pull 700.
Barbell row
355x8 - Didn’t want to let this get too sloppy so I cut it at 8, have to stay within the limits of good taste
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+45x8
Barbell curl
125x10, 7 - Seems like around 125 it gets hard to do curls with strict (or at least decent) technique, probably since this is about half my bodyweight. So rather than cheat and try to do more reps than last week I’m trying to stay as strict as possible.
Next Friday I will have an easier deadlift session, the exact details will depend on how I feel then as well as what I end up doing with my squats on Monday. I need to have some easy/easier session here and there but I don’t need a full week of easy lower body training right now, so we will see how it goes. I have a few options in mind.
Looks like things are back on track though, it just sucks that I basically wasted a whole bunch of time but that’s how it goes sometimes.
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Good stuff big fella. I love the “there’s a PR there” sessions without actually hitting it. Great stimulus and boost to the confidence without actually pushing to a PR and accumulating the extra fatigue.
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Yeah, I don’t really like to go all out on deadlifts very often because it seems to cause more fatigue than even an equally challenging set of squats, plus I had a hard squat double earlier this week too. You can’t attempt PRs every day and expect to get far.
I might try to pull 580x2 in a couple weeks.
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