Zerchers are definitely not a necessity so if you’re happy with doing landmine squats I’d say stick with those. Whatever works best for you.
One recommendation I have if you do plan on zerchers is wear a long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt. Definitely helps with the pain from the bar knurling. The pressure from the bar will always be there so be prepared for bruises and stuff.
Bench press day and my first attempt at 5 x 5 on 87.5kg. Got 4 reps on the first set and 3 reps on the other 4 sets. Did another 2 sets of 5 at 80kg to partially make up for all the missed reps. A little disappointed with today as would have liked to have got 5 reps on at least one of the sets. Form was all over the place on the first set which I think killed my best chance. Definitely sticking at this weight next time around and see if I can do better.
Deadlift day. My Jury rigged solution didnt work well with 3.75kg on each side and a second attempt didnt work great either. Theres not really enough room on the bar for me to attach much weight with string inside the normal weights and still take my normal stance. Got 2 sets of 3 at 112.5kg (both sets interrupted by my bodge job breaking). Then did 3 sets of 5 at 105kg.
Need better weights and a power rack really but dont want to buy them until after had house extended next year. Heres hoping gyms open again soon.
I think next deadlift session I will do 105kg again but do 5 sets of 6 and then continue to try upping the reps rather than the weight until I can get to a gym and start moving up again.
Rows at 62.5kg today. These were very hard I think partially because i changed technique so Im bringing bar to my lower chest where as before I was hitting my belly. I think this is a better technique as feels harder and I can now feel my upper back more. Did 5 sets of 5. Need to be v careful on these that I work out exactly what a failure is as its not like a press or a deadlift where you either get it or you don’t.
5 sets of 8 landmine squats at 45kg went well. Also did 5 sets of 8 EZ bar curls at 28.5kg.
Bench press today and second attempt at 87.5kg was a mixed bag. Got full 5 reps on the first set which Im delighted about. Got 4 reps on the 2nd set, 3 reps on the 3rd and 4th and only 2 reps on the last set which was disappointing. Felt a little twinge in my left elbow so decided not to make up the missed reps at a lower weight.
Weigh in day today at 101.7kg / 16 stone / 224 pounds which is another 4 pounds off and now 11 pounds off in all. Averages for the week were 242g protein, 33g carbs and 51g fat for an average calories of 1559. Still feel good on the diet apart from one day and not feeling any hunger or cravings so succesful so far. Another 8 weeks to go.
Had a day off then yesterday attempted bench press again. Very very poor session, got 2 sets of 3 reps at 87.5kg then a final set of 2 and that was it for me. Felt absoluteley exhausted and fell asleep at 8pm a good 3-4 hours earlier than normal. Hopefully this was just an off day not really sure what to blame, I’ve been doing more bench than anything else but I dont think its that as that wouldnt have caused the exhaustion. Maybe just friday and end of week of work.
Felt much better today and did 5 sets of 5 rows at 60kg, put the weight down a bit to be sure I was getting the technique right. Also did 5 sets of 5 of curls at 31kg on the EZ bar.
Had an unscheduled day off then deadlift yesterday. Did 5 sets of 6 at 105KG. This felt brutally hard. I attempted hook grip on the first rep which whilst I managed to lift the weight didnt feel very stable (felt like a lot of weight was resting on my little and ring fingers) and it also hurt and pulled some skin off. Went back to normal mixed grip for remaining reps.
Today was bench press which went pretty well. Another attempt at 87.5kg got 4 reps on the first set 5 on the 2nd and 4 on the last 3 sets. With only 4 missed reps this is by far my best result to date at this weight and I feel confident I’ll get the full 5 of 5 soon and be able to move up to 90kg. Also then dropped the wight down to 70kg with no rest after my final set and tried to get as many reps as possible. Only managed 8 then reracked and tried again after 15 seconds and squeezed out an extra one.
Last night after bench decided to man up and do power clean again. started light at 40kg and did I think 12 shoulder presses. then did another couple of sets of 5 at 50kg then back down to 40kg for final set of 8. I quite like the power clean at these lower weights I think I just need to be careful about upping the weight until I’m more confident in the technique.
Today did 5 sets of 5 bent over rows at 62.5kg. Then supersetted 5 sets of 8 landmine squats at 55kg with 5 sets of 5 EZ bar curls at 33.5kg. Felt absolutely brutal, I hope back squat is easier than landmine because this is tough. Also running out of room on the bar again. I could technically get my last 15kg plate on to make it 70kg but then wouldn’t feel confident picking up the bar with so little to hold onto. I think I’ll do what I’m doing with deadlift and up the reps rather than the weight each session for the time being.
So I’m getting myself stuck at various weights on different techniques due to lack of plates / room on my bar and my fear on power clean. The opposite of what I was going for with progressive overload programme. Frustrating but I can’t bring myself to pay crisis prices for a new bar / plates / powerack, hopefully gyms will be open again in July sometime and in the meantime I can make progress on my bench and rows.
What are you finding to be the hardest with landmine squats?
Im not struggling to move the weight its the level of tiredness they cause. Pretty much the same as my deadlift but at half the weight. I think it should be easier given Im only lifting 55kg.
It may be partially due to lack of breathing from trying to hold a rigid back. Also im working my arms a fair bit to hold the weight.
Landmines are like goblet Squats in that youre bracing much harder than on a back squat because the weight isn’t directly over your spine, so your core and back are working much harder to maintain a good posture. It’s hard to breathe so its hard to do higher reps.
Also, is the 55kg including the bar weight? Because if not, then that’s a landmine squat that would tire a LOT of people lol
That makes me feel a bit better. Unfortunately 55kg includes the bar which is 10kg so 45kg without.
Yeah that’s gonna be tiring to hold up. Not surprised to hear that about landmine @jbooty115 as ive experienced double kb racked squat is pretty hard at lightish weights too
Weigh in today at 101.2kg / 15 stone 13 / 223 pounds which is another pound off and now 12 pounds off in all. Averages for the week were 247g protein, 51g carbs and 58g fat for an average calories of 1728. Its difficult not to be a little dissapointed with only a pound off after pretty decent consistency with the diet. Rationalising it I might have lost 2 or 3 pounds of fat but this could easily be hidden by movement in my water levels and the inconsistency as well as innacuracy of my scales.
On that point I’ve never found a set of electric scales I trust, I dont mind innacuracy its the inconsistency which is annoying. I try a test on them of stepping on getting a reading then picking up a glass of water which has to weigh a pound and stepping on again, never had one yet that hasnt lied to me and said I weigh the same as before to the tenth of a kilo. Analogue scales though I can’t read the weight to better than within 2 to 3 pounds peering down at them. Anyway rant over still feel fine on the diet, no hunger and 7 weeks to go.
Bench press today started well with 2 full sets of 5. I had a spotter so on the 3rd set I went for the 5th rep even though it was a low chance one and failed it. Then got 3 reps on sets 4 and 5. So 5 missed reps in total, one more than last time. I did feel stronger though as I emptied the tank trying to get the 5th rep on set 3 and if I hadnt gone for it I think I would have got 4 reps on sets 4 and 5. Reckon I have a decent chance of getting the full 5 x 5 on next attempt.
That’s still an impressive landmine squat! You’d be surprised how little weight some good backsquatters push when you offset their levers. I prefer them to backsquats for longevity and overall strength, but that’s just me.
As far as your weight goes, don’t be obsessed with the scale. I know you don’t trust electronic scales, but they’re likely correct. A person’s water weight can swing 10lbs even in just one day. The differences in weight you are seeing are likely because of hydration. Also, any weight measurement of fat you lose will be distorted by any muscle gained or any inflammation your body uses to repair muscle between workouts.
Try to gauge your weight loss visually. Take pictures at the same time each morning before having eaten or drank anything, and you’ll have a better idea of how your body is changing. If you insist on weighing yourself, weekly measurements will be more helpful.
That makes me feel better on the landmine squats. Yes I’m doing weekly weigh ins I can feel the weight come off as well. Trousers getting looser etc.
Sunday did 5 sets of 5 shoulders press. The power lean to get up there felt fine so will up by 2.5kg next time. Yesterday was deadlift 5 sets of 7 at 105kg. The first few sets felt surprisingly easy but last couple were tough.
Today 5 sets of 5 bent over row at 65kg. This didn’t feel tiring but really struggled to get the weight to hit my torso. Also supersetted 5 sets of 9 landmine squats at 55kg with curls at 36kg. This felt easier than last time which I think is due to me breathing more during the reps.
The last week has not been great from a lifting point of view. The excuse is that its been a really busy week at work but realy its a case of must do better. Attempted 87.5kg bench press again and got 3 sets of 5 a set of 4 and a set of 3. Quite happy with this as its my best to date with only 3 missed reps. I may have done another session or two but have now left too long to remember.
Weigh in on Saturday had postive result at 98.9kg / 218 pounds / 15st 8 so 5 pounds lost in the week and 17 pounds in all. Really happy to get under 100kg which means that when I make my 100kg bench press attempt it will also be a first bodyweight attempt. Macro averages were 228g protein, 51g carbs and 39g fat cal 1465. Sunday, Monday and tuesday this week I didnt count my macros and to an extent binged, not disastrous as didnt drink too much but again dissapointing. The diet was continueing to go well with no real hunger or cravings so no good reason. I’m going to guesstimate 4000 calories for the missed days made up of 200 pro, 350 carbs and 200 fat.
Need to get back on course over the rest of this week with both the lifting and diet, will be doing bench press later and hopefully my refeed will give a little boost to get me over the 5x5 on 87.5kg.
Thusday had another attempt at 87.5kg on bench and got oh so close. 4 sets of 5, but only made 4 reps on the 5th set. Really happy with the progress and confident of getting it next time.
Yesterday did militiary press for 5 sets of 5 at 52.5kg. felt tough but ok and importantly the powerclean to get up their felt good. I think some of my problem was I wasnt bending my legs to receive the bar at my shoulders at all so was having to throw it all the way up. Now I’m bending legs just a little it feels better.
Today did 5 sets of 5 bent over rows at 65kg. Tried to do curls at 36kg on EZ bar. gots first set of 5 I think with minimal cheating, second set only got 4 and 3rd set just 1 incuding a lot of cheating. put it down to 26kg and finished off the sets at that.
Was also weigh in today at 99.9kg/ 220 pounds /15st 10 so 2 pounds gained in the week and 15 pounds lost overall. Given this was a week where I fell over on the diet I’m quite happy with only gaining 2 pounds. Including the 3 guesstimated days my macros were protein 200g, carbs 208g, fat 118g and cal 2704. Now at halfway point 5 weeks down and 5 to go, if I can get through the remainder with no more slip ups I think getting under 15 stone is realistic which is also the point I go from obese to overweight on the BMI which would be a nice little milestone to get over.
Today I managed to get the 5 sets of 5 at 87.5kg bench. Delighted as its been a bit of a slog. Form was a little ragged but got there and 90kg next time. Interestingly was struggling to lock out on last couple which hasnt been a problem before so looks like whatever strength or form improvement ive made to improve has exposed triceps as my new weakest point.
Most one rep max calculators suggest if I can get 5 reps at 90kg I Should have a 100kg one rep max. I will likely make an attempt at it pretty soon depending how my 90kg reps go.
Got the 100kg one rep bench. Delighted, its probably wrong but I see a 100kg bench as a mark of being on the road at least to being strong. Also Ive been building up to it for several months so it is a real milestone.
Got it with a few warm up sets at 70kg then a one rep max attempt at 95kg which went up v nicely. Then the one rep max attempt at 100kg which again went up really nicely. I wasnt close to missing it so reckon I had a couple more kilos in me.
Having this to aim for has really motivated me so thinking about the next goal. I think maybe an 80kg military press which is a small distance from my current max of somewhere under 70kg. Or maybe make it longer term and a 100kg military press or is this maybe too ambitious?