Come So Far, Not Stopping

Training Training Logs
684

Have an upper day today but might give myself an extra rest day. The back never ended up too bad, not as bad as it thought it would considering how I felt after the session. Walking completely pain-free and even did 4x25 of 10kg kettlebell swings the morning after, with the idea of blood flow. It still doesn’t feel perfect though and don’t want it leaking into my upper session (bench and a OHP variation). I’m sure the extra 24hrs will allow me to get more out of the session.

I used to call it the deadlift hangover because in the early days of training i’d spend half the week feeling like shit only to forget about it by the time for another session, just like the booze!

1 Like
685

24/06/24

Bench
87.5kg x 7 (+1)
80kg x 10 (+1)
72.5kg x 12

Half way through top set I realized I didn’t have my wrist wraps on which psyched me out a bit :melting_face:. Still got the reps. Maybe a slight bounce on the last rep but not too worried as the back-offs were clean.

Machine OHP
52.5kg x 10
52.5kg x 9
52.5kg x 8

One-arm cable row
75kg x 13
77.5kg x 12
77.5kg x 12

CGBP
65kg x 12
65kg x 10

10mins leisurely pace on bike. 2.8miles I think it was.

Had some guy start talking to me, peacocking a bit about his own bench after I did my first set. “I can do 100kg for 3”. “Ah, well done mate. Good stuff” I replied. Then he went on talking some noise as if to patronise me because he’s so awesome and powerful. I mostly ignored it at first but he was going on quite a bit so I ended up politely asking how much he weighs “115kg”. “Cool man, how many reps can you do with your bodyweight?” “I almost got 110kg a couple weeks ago”. “Unlucky man, I’m sure you’ll hit next time. Anyway, next set. I’m just about to do a good few kg heavier than my bodyweight for a set of 10 so I’ll let you get on with the rest of your session.”

Felt a bit of a cock afterwards but this whole comparison thing people try and do to gloat about their lifts is so dumb half the time.

4 Likes
686

I remember reading a Dan John book about how he’d told his daughters the best response to anyone bragging about a 100kg bench this is to say “I’m so sorry to hear that” which I’m guessing would take the wind out of anyone sails. By chance would the man in question skip leg day?

1 Like
687

Love that response! Glad i don’t get that at my current gym. There are a load of stronger guys than me and if you are talking weights they only say nice things.

1 Like
688

Recently re-read Never Let Go for the third time. Love me a bit of Dan John.

When they follow up with, “huh?”. Do you then finish them with a “Well if I was carrying that much extra weight with that big a frame I’d want to be doing double that.”?

You’re a lucky man. As I’ve mentioned here before, my gym is connected to a school leisure centre so the vibe is pretty cringe a lot of the time.

2 Likes
689

25/06/24

Squats
87.5kg x 10
87.5kg x 10
87.5kg x 10

Meh, aircon in my gym is awful…so hot and crowded in there, bumping into people I haven’t seen for a while. I couldn’t get into any sort of proper rhythm. I hit what I needed to but not really happy with how they felt, no groove at all. These embarassingly took me over an hour due to yapping.

Leg extensions
80kg x 10
80kg x 10
80kg x 10

Leg curls
55kg x 12
45mins rest because the lat pulldown became free
57.5kg x 12
57.5kg x 11

Been trying to get 12 reps across on 55kg for a while. It took accidently not seeing that the extra 2.5kg slider thing was on to breach it, and then got all the reps on the higher weight, so that was nice!

Lat pulldown
62.5kg x 12
62.5kg x 12
62.5kg x 12

The injury I got has me doing these so much better. I used to stack a lot more weight and lean back too much. A +1 would mean more of a swing half the time. I am completely vertical now, do them at a much slower pace and feel it in all the right places

Facepulls
27.5kg x 12
27.5kg x 12
27.5kg x 12

Incline curls
16kg x 11
16kg x 10
16kg x 9

4 Likes
690

27/06/24

Seated OHP
62.5kg x 6 (+1)
56kg x 9 (+1)
50kg x 12 (+2)

DB Bench
34kg x 10
34kg x 9
34kg x 8
30kg x 8

Don’t know what the fuck I was doing here. I didn’t progress on the first set like expected, went on to do all my sets with massive form breaking grinds to try and get extra reps in and then added a set because I wasn’t happy. My lats hurting a bit now, hope it’s just I went a little too intense. I didn’t need to be like this, my main movement of the day went fantastically. I don’t need to relearn these lessons.

V-Grip Cable Row
87.5kg x 10
87.5kg x 10
87.5kg x 10

Went really well. Didn’t start feeling my lat being off until after the session

Tricep pushdowns
30kg x 11
30kg x 10
30kg x 9

I know +1s won’t always come every week on every exercise, and I really lacked discipline today. Doing that extra set after 3 already insane bad grinders was dumb. Hope I’m alright. Not gonna panic but feeling like an idiot.

5 Likes
691

Still lifting, just not been spending much time online. I know people are more interested in reading weights lifted over my musings but right now I feel it’s more important, almost cathartic to me. I am still tracking but with my forum consistancy right now it feels a bit off to just drop in random workouts.

My training is going good, back this week after a deload. I am incapable of moderating intensity these days, a lot of science would say that’s a good thing as I am never in any risk of not pushing sets hard enough. I definitely feel that deloads need to be more regular though. Every 4th-5th week allows me to continue to train as hard as I naturally enjoy whilst avoiding burnout. I know I could train for longer periods if I did even less volume or reduced the intensity on some sets but it’s just not in my character.

When I look back over the months in my log where I was at my strongest, I always ended up autoregulating deloads every month or just over anyway. I fell a little too deep into the 8-12 week thing that a lot of lifestyle lifters have success with despite it never working out that well for me. Maybe I train harder than them, maybe I have shit recovery - whether it’s the positive in the the former or the negative in the latter - it doesn’t matter. I do still have strong feelings for the “life hands you a deload” methodology though. A holiday, a night-out of debauchery, a minor injury. Most people will deload even when they don’t want to

5 Likes
692

Smashed out 2 sets of RDLs 147.5kg x 8 earlier. That’s either equal to my best or a PR. Time for 150kg next week!

Pressing still a little behind my old PRs, keep getting small little niggles through trying too hard… somewhat foolishly trying to rush the progress rather than trust it. As I mentioned a couple of times, relative strength is probably a fair bit stronger - need to slow down sometimes and remember I can still train hard and progress without treating each pressing session like I’m competing or some shit. My form is way better than it was at my strongest too. I need to stop telling myself that I’m behind when really I’m ahead.

2 Likes
693

My damn niece. She seems to think it’s funny to jump and stamp on my leg whilst I’m holding it at an awkward angle. Hamstring didn’t feel too great after that. Went and did the RDLs anyway, nice solid 150kg x 6 on the first set, second set I was too in my head about the hamstring feeling weird and my form went to absolute shit half way through the set. Felt a slight twinge and back hurting today. I’m sure I’ll be fine but got some pretty harsh words in my mind about the little rascal right now. Trying to hold myself accountable instead of blaming, but it’s difficult.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be okay for squats on Weds… time will tell. It’s probably a good idea to work in a ~10 rep range for RDLs for a while. I’ve been pounding heavy 6-8s for a long ass time.

2 Likes
694

Hope all is well mate.

1 Like
695

Really appreciate that @rugby_lifting , it’s very easy to just forget about guys that fall into the inactivity abyss - it’s truly nice that you checked in.

Not been on in a long-ass time. Lifes just super hectic at the moment. Helping my Mum care for my Dad, my sisters got a 10month old baby and refuses to see any of the family except for me. My Mum is a bit of a narcissist (hate the trend of that word, but my Mum definitely has some ways that could be considered abusive - her love can often feel like hate but in many ways it’s the fault of her own childhood) and my sister has dipped out because of it. Nothing but negativity and anger from everyone and I’m stuck in the middle.

I’m still training but feeling really shitty about it. It almost feels like self-harm the amount I get little niggles. It must be due to all the stress I’m under with various things. No word of a lie, I felt a slight hamstring pull this morning just stretching as I woke up. My body is struggling at the moment. It’s worth mentioning I just came to the end of a high-rep squat program that was definitely not smart programming. Top set of 10-12 and two really hard back off sets of 15 for around 8 weeks. All 3 sets the kind of intensity where people would do a “one and done” before moving onto the next exercise. As it was just once a week I kept progressing and it was the only exercise that made me feel like I scratched that itch of getting some frustration out. I went from 70kg 3 x 15 to 97.5kg x 10, 90kg x 15, 90kg x 15. Not bad for someone who got told not long ago by a physio to stop squatting and focus on narrow stance leg press due to the 100% adductor tear. The body can adapt to some pretty horrific things, amazing. Insane progress but perhaps a little stupid.

Because of all the other dumb niggles I keep changing my programming up which has led to 2 steps forward 3 steps backward. I need to refocus on something and get back to it. Sort my head out.

Thanks again, and I hope your training and life is going good!

2 Likes
696

Sounds like you have a lot going on. Got to take that into account with you training intensity/volume stress.

You’re family sounds so similar to mine. My dad is a narcissist (emotional abusive etc.) and it had a massive effect on my growing up and how i act/ feel now. Counselling helped me massively with understanding why i feel a certain way in certain situations.

Also (another similarity) is my sister has a 2 and a half year old and she hasn’t ever let my dad see her due to how he treated my sister as a kid. Its a sad situation but at the same time i fully understand and wish i had the balls to cut them out like she has.

Its a massive stress being stuck in the middle of all of this and its hard to explain to anyone so i empathise.

Good to hear from you though dude.

1 Like
697

Keep fighting the good fight. Like all things, this too will pass. Sending you a hug!!

1 Like
698

Good to see you check in fella

2 Likes
699

Been a LONG time. I’m sure you’ve all but forgotten me. :sweat_smile:

I’ve still been gyming but it’s been a consistant 3 steps forward 4 steps backwards kind of thing. It’s actually embarassing how backwards I’ve gone. I used to think I knew a lot, would consistently gain strength and muscle with relative ease. I’d begrudge people for overcomplicating but after having an extended period off of around 4-5 months through some life struggles, despite almost 2 years back I’m still struggling to get anywhere near previous strength levels. I tell people I’m just not taking it as seriously anymore, but I am… I’m just failing. Dealing with postural issues, wheel spinning… and it’s not as if I’ve not read through a ton of information just like I used to - just none of it seems to stick. I’ve even read extended threads and suggested articles here on the matter and nothing improves. I think after a bit of an armpit injury, avoiding vertical pulls for a while, and then switching to back sleeping on a soft mattress for way too long completely messed my mechanics up. I’m like a shrimp in how I stand these days.

I do all the throracic stuff, hanging, band pull-aparts, shoulder dislocations, external rotations, I even roll my pec out with a tennis ball etc, and I can’t even begin to describe how many times I’ve “corrected” my rowing form. I can retract and depress my shoulder blades on command. Vertical pulldowns still feel shruggy and dangerous on about 4 different muscle groups despite me knowing all the cues. Shoulders still sit slightly forward and rounded even after all those warm-ups. Probably aggravated a minor pec strain on the right side 40+ times these past couple of years because of the issue - and no, I’m not exagerrating. My wall slide starting pose is a textbook “he’s fucked” image.

I went from doing chin-ups for sets of 5-8 with 40kg hanging from me to being scared of doing a single one. I used to do dips with almost the same weight, can’t quite remember, now I can’t even do a press-up because my body is just all in the wrong place.

I recently cut 12lbs so restablizing at the moment , but here are my current lifts in mostly 10RMs.

Seated OHP: 50kg x 9

Bench: 72.5kg x 10

Squats: Did 125kg x 5 with bad form before the cut, building back up sub-maximal last workout 102.5kg x 5, 5, 5, 7

RDL: 140kg x 10

At least my RDL is still strong! I always had a good hinge.

My body weight: 179lbs (80kgish)

Anyway, hope everyone is all doing okay. I had a quick nose through my subscribed logs. Great to see most of you still active and doing so well.

I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that my body went sideways shortly after removing myself from social media and forums, well… scratch the social media bit or any other forum - I’m sure it’s leaving here that’s the problem!

I will try to check in at least a couple times a week, if only to catch up on some of your guys logs and lives. In the mean time any advice for my training, or even just philosophical… let me know! If not, I still appreciate y’all because a lot of you guys here were along my side through some of my happiest gym periods.

:grinning_face:

4 Likes
700

I’ve read through quite a few logs these past couple of days and I’m already coming up with little suggestions in my head to advise people. Seems so silly, bordering on ridiculous when I can’t even sort my own training out right now. Maybe the interactions and seeing things written down takes the emotion away and was a practice that used to allow me to make better decisions keeping my own training in check.

I wanted to tell rugby lifting to try a reverse pyramid as he feels his LP running out on squats. Top set of 5, add weight when you get 7, take 5-10% off, get ~8 reps, take another 5-10% off ~get 10 reps. This would allow him to keep handling a heavy weight and seeing the numbers go up whilst not putting all that pressure he felt whilst using the 5/3/1 top set (or focusing on sets he didn’t feel he got anything from). Even a bad top set means you can still hit PRs with the back-offs which in turn drive the top set anyway. I’m sure somewhere in my log there’s a ton of progress I made whilst using this method on squats and deads.

The reason I didn’t outright say it is because whilst I bring my own body back from dust though I don’t feel confident enough to give advice. Even after not really talking much on here again yet, I am seeing how communicating on here makes me check in with my own training. I can’t remember which coach said to “get out of your own way”… but seeing other peoples training definitely might stop me putting walls infront of myself.

2 Likes
701

Advice is always welcome, you don’t have to be perfect before offering it as the best coaches don’t always look the best but can still be a great coach.

In terms of your training what is your goal right now?

Then with your injury, i can’t remember if you’ve been to a decent physio to see what they can recommend.

Good to have you back on here though, its good accountability for one’s self and a great community to get advice from and talk stuff through.

2 Likes
702

The overarching non-specific goal is always the boring “get bigger and stronger”. Ultimately though, it’s about feeling as functional and as strong as I felt before and then I’ll see where to go from there. Mobility is more important now. Jim Wendler has said multiple times variations of “start now or play catch-up”.. well I’m playing catch-up.

My two major injuries were the full adductor tear and what I believe was a non-serious armpit tendon tear that I rehabbed in the complete wrong way - a whole bunch of time off and then complete avoidance of any exercise I feared would irritate it. My scapular mechanics and posture went down a massive cliff because of it, which of course impacted a ton of exercises. I’m working that back though, slowly. There was a point i could barely lift my arm above chin level - now my overhead range is mostly okay apart from old man tightness in the morning. Building back vertical pulls in focusing on scapular depression before intensity.

The adductor tear just presents itself as a cricket ball sized lump at the top of my inner left thigh. It used to strain over and over again just doing trivial things like jogging over a zebra crossing, now it’s probably close to a year since I’ve had any real pain there. Thousands and thousands of cable adductions and building up my squat from just bodyweight, to bar x 50 reps to 100kg x 20 reps last year seemed to do the trick. And as in my first comeback post, I did 125kg x 5 recently - I’m proud of where I’ve come from that. There were long periods where anything with a rep count of less than 20 felt like something was completely gonna pop off. It wasn’t linear, but I got there. I’ll never play football again but it’s a small price to pay - I just wish the 100kg x 20 led to a more relevant top set of 5 over all that time. :sweat_smile:

And yeah you’re right. Just within the small communications I’ve had here already I feel a fire in my belly and feeling of aiming upwards.

2 Likes
703

Trainings been going great this week. Everything feeling good and progression on push exercises are becoming predictable again as I work on my shoulder mechanics.

Embarassingly though, as my missus called me from downstairs, in my poor slouched folded over desk posture I reached for my headset and tweaked my recurring pec strain again. Heh. Gotta laugh at these things. Close-grip benched 80kg for a set of 6 earlier in the weak as strength expression is rising quickly - but reaching to take a headset off did that.

My overhead mechanics are improving fast, and confidence under the bar is too. I’m used to these minor pec strains as it’s happened every other week for around 18 months. 9 times out of 10 I can train through it though as long as I don’t go below 8 reps - which isn’t really a problem to me. The area has been messed up for so long that I imagine it’s just microscopic tears over scar tissue over and over again. I am getting less pain on average since my mobility has improved, but I’m clearly not there yet. Need to stop sliding down my desk chair! Maybe I’ll cut out a yoga mat to sit on.

4 Likes