I have no idea how this happened, and I’ve rechecked it several times, but I’m 93.2kg today, and was 94.1kg yesterday. I’m guessing it’s not completely accurate but I do look better and things are definitely heading in the right direction. The last couple of days I’ve worked long shifts and done whole body sessions with the 28kg.
Enjoy your trip.
Congratulations on the weight loss. Feels good doesn’t it? I’m glad to see that after a long while of talking about losing weight, you’ve found a way to succeed at it.
Cutting Week 9 - 10,000 Swings Day 1
Warm-Up
Hip circles, goblet squats, dislocates and haloes
Main Session
28kg/20kg two-handed swings: 500 total (300/200)
40kg goblet squats: 30 total
As per Dan John’s 10,000 swing routine
Time: 1:26:01 (pretty shocking!)
Bodyweight: 94.1kg
This session was simply brutal, both in terms of grip and conditioning. The grip was actually much more of an issue than it was last time I did this - I guess just because I’ve been working in lower rep ranges since then. It was such an issue that after the first 300 28kg swings I had to drop down to using the 20kg. I’ll stick with this pattern for the first week before trying to do all reps with the 28kg. This was disappointing, but I have driven from Southern Germany to Scotland over the past 36 hours so I guess that probably contributed.
The broad outline for this 10,000 swing phase is to train 4x/week: squat-press-row-press. I will do it for anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks before switching to a more specific heavy clean and press routine.
LoRez: Thanks a lot man. I’m pretty ashamed of how long I talked about it before I started doing it, but I’m doing it now and I guess that’s what matters.
I had a great time on holiday and managed to maintain my bodyweight in the low 94s/high 93s throughout. Also managed to do whole body sessions pretty much every day. But most importantly had a great time and new experiences.
Cutting Week 9 - 10,000 Swings Day 2
Warm-Up
Hip circles, goblet squats, dislocates and haloes
Main Session
This session was a complete failure. I felt really tight from the high volume of swings yesterday and all the driving, but did an extended warm-up and thought I’d be fine. My lower back (esp right side) gave out really early on, and quickly became unbearable. I pushed through two cycles (200 total 28kg swings) but there was no point continuing so I finished up by doing the remaining presses and some super light 10kg swings.
Bodyweight: 94.0kg
This session was a real disappointment but it’s actually remarkable how long it’s been since I was last bothered by my lower back so I can’t be too upset. Tonight I’m starting a run of 4 night shifts, so nutrition and training will be difficult.
Cutting Week 9 - 10,000 Swings Day 3
Main Session
500 total bodyweight hip thrusts
30 total 40kg rows
Time: 21:41
Bodyweight: 93.8kg
My previous session did more damage than I initially thought. At first my lumbar spine, glutes and hamstrings all really hurt, and I thought it was just a lower back tweak, but since then my lower back has sorted itself out and I’ve been left with an excruciatingly painful lower left glute/upper hamstring. Hip extension with any ROM greater than just walking (eg climbing stairs) is agony. What a fragile loser! I eased back in with hip thrusts and will build the weight back up with swings over the next week or two.
The rows were challenging, but I hit all reps with decent form.
Oh bummer, man!! Please, do some corrective stuff and sort yourself out…that kind of pain is not to be trifled with!
Keep moving as much as you can, and avoid sitting. Pop a few ibuprofen’s to help with the inflammation and pain.
You will be back in no time.
Chin up soldier!
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[quote]furo wrote:
My previous session did more damage than I initially thought. At first my lumbar spine, glutes and hamstrings all really hurt, and I thought it was just a lower back tweak, but since then my lower back has sorted itself out and I’ve been left with an excruciatingly painful lower left glute/upper hamstring. Hip extension with any ROM greater than just walking (eg climbing stairs) is agony. What a fragile loser! I eased back in with hip thrusts and will build the weight back up with swings over the next week or two.[/quote]
Well, the good news is your lower back is fine.
Lower left glute/upper hamstring sounds a lot more like tendon than muscle to me, in which case I’d just give it some time, and just focus on getting bloodflow in the area with minimal loading. If it’s more muscular though, I’d see if you can find tightness or knots in your left leg/left glute, and then just spend a few minutes here and there working those out.
Good luck getting this sorted.
Cutting Week 9 - 10,000 Swings Day 4
Main Session
40kg KB stiff leg deadlifts (from box): 500 total
28kg press: 30 total
Time: 32:20
Bodyweight: 93.5kg
Thanks a lot for the kind words guys! This is a strange pain, but it’s not bothering me too much. I have no pain with walking or lying, so it’s really easy to get on with. I think this log contains some of the most pathetic sessions ever logged on this website, and this one ranks among them lol. As my “swing” exercise I did 40kg SLDL from a low box, which put the handle at about the height of my knee - so effectively the equivalent of doing a 40kg rack pull lol. The reason I did this instead of just light swings was because I was nervous about doing full ROM and there is no way to scale ROM with swings. It worked well and I gradually pushed the ROM throughout the session until I was pretty much doing them from the floor by the end. I think tomorrow I should be ready to do 20kg swings.
The presses felt good, they are definitely going up easier now. Also my bodyweight continues to head in the right direction, which is great. I just finished my last night shift and I haven’t been eating clean, but I’ve been very busy and stressed and overall eaten at a deficit which is why I haven’t put weight back on. I have been lucky to hold the weight off with my holiday and night shift eating, but I think it’s extremely important that I get back into eating clean from tomorrow onwards, so things don’t start heading in the wrong direction. Judging by my weight loss so far, I’m definitely going to have to drop below 90kg to get properly lean which is very eye-opening (I used to consider myself reasonably lean at 104kg/230lbs - I definitely wasn’t!).
[quote]furo wrote:
Judging by my weight loss so far, I’m definitely going to have to drop below 90kg to get properly lean which is very eye-opening (I used to consider myself reasonably lean at 104kg/230lbs - I definitely wasn’t!). [/quote]
Will be interesting to see the results once you are under 90 kg’s. Do you feel any significant change in your strength levels as you slowly drop the weight?
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[b] Cutting Week 9 Summary
Week 1: [/b] 96.3kg
Week 2: 95.2kg
Week 3: 95.0kg
Week 4: 94.7kg
Week 5: 94.7kg
Week 6: 94.5kg
Weeks 7 and 8: No data
Week 9: 93.9kg
A great week in terms of bodyweight and pressing, but the leg injury is a bit of a setback.
theBird - Yeah it’s very weird to think about weighing less than 90kg. I guess I might not have to go quite that far as I still have another 3kg to lose first and I might be lean enough at 90-91kg, although I doubt it. It’s very difficult to predict. I feel absolutely no loss of strength, which is fantastic. I imagine that’s because of how slowly I’ve done it.
Cutting Week 10: Goblet Squats
Goblet Squat
BW: 20
10kg: 20
20kg: 15
28kg: 10
40kg: 5
Bodyweight: 92.8kg (!)
Weighed in at 92.8kg today, which is the lightest I’ve been in just under 4 years. Just did a simple goblet squat session because I was shattered and just wanted to get some blood flowing in my legs. Left quite a lot in the tank.
Spent a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror today (literally) and I’ve come to the decision that I am actually decently lean at this point. I’d been judging myself by my lack of abs, but on closer inspection I’m a lot leaner everywhere else which I guess I hadn’t noticed. My back and legs and chest all look a lot more defined and I’ve got much more detail in my serratus. I even have new veins in my arms (which have always been very unvascular). I’d been pretty disappointed with my progress but I feel better about it now.
Cutting Week 10: Whole Body Day
Warm-Up
Hip circles, goblet squats and dislocates
Clean and Press
28kg: 3x5; 2x3
Goblet Squat
40kg: 5x5
Kettlebell Row
40kg: 5x5
Bodyweight: 93.2kg
I have abandoned my ill-fated 10,000 swing attempt, and will just do some simple whole body sessions for the next few days while I sort my leg out. It seems to cope ok with squatting now, it’s really lateral movement that hurts (e.g. getting into my car).
This was a really nice session. All sets done every second minute, so about 90 seconds rest. I’m pretty confident that my strength hasn’t dropped off during this cut - the goblet squats and presses are stronger and the rows are the same.
[quote]furo wrote:
Spent a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror today (literally) and I’ve come to the decision that I am actually decently lean at this point. I’d been judging myself by my lack of abs, but on closer inspection I’m a lot leaner everywhere else which I guess I hadn’t noticed. My back and legs and chest all look a lot more defined and I’ve got much more detail in my serratus. I even have new veins in my arms (which have always been very unvascular). I’d been pretty disappointed with my progress but I feel better about it now. [/quote]
Hey dude, train smart. If you have to put 10000 swings on hold to get your back in gear, do it. Looks like you still managed to log a pretty good whole body session there. 40kg goblet squats are no joke.
Just wanted to comment on this because I’ve done the same to myself in the past - equating “no appearance of abs” with “I’m not getting any leaner.” We can definitely trick ourselves and ignore improvements on arm, shoulder, back just because our abs haven’t shown themselves yet.
That’s not an excuse to stop chasing the abs - after all, the goal is to get lean everywhere - but a good reminder to evaluate the WHOLE physique in evaluating one’s leanness and muscularity.
[b] Cutting Week 10: Whole Body Day
Warm-Up [/b]
Goblet squats, dislocates and hip circles
Goblet Squats
40kg: 3x10
PR
Kettlebell Press
28kg: 3x5
Kettlebell Row
40kg: 3x5
28kg: 1x10
Bodyweight: 94.0kg
I had a 13 hour day today, so was pretty tired for this. I meant to hit some singles with the 40kg press, but it wasn’t happening. Tomorrow morning I plan on doing some swings and swimming to see if I can help get this leg heading in the right direction - it really hasn’t improved yet.
Thanks a lot ActivitiesGuy, good to put it all in perspective!
[b] Cutting Week 10: Swings
Warm-Up [/b]
Goblet squats and hip circles
Two-Handed Swings
20kg: 20
28kg: 20
40kg: 20
One-Handed Swings
40kg: 8, 5, 3
Bodyweight: 93.6kg
This was a nice little session, and the swings didn’t affect my leg like I thought they might. I kept a lot in the tank and took it easy. This was my first time doing one-handed swings in a long time, and they felt ok. I’ve lost a little of the explosiveness but that’s to be expected. It was my hands that stopped me from getting more reps - I haven’t found anything that tears them up like these.
Continued…
Swimming at 14:00
30min
Two-Handed Swings at 23:00
20kg: 20
28kg: 20
40kg: 20
20kg: 50
I did the swimming to try to pump some blood into my leg, then in the evening after work I did more swings mostly just because I ate far too much today. Tomorrow evening I plan on checking out my gym which re-opened recently. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do, but I’ll definitely include pull-ups.
Cutting Week 10: Cardio
Today I did some goblet squats and swings then played 60min 5-a-side football with some friends and colleagues. I’ll hit up the gym tomorrow instead. It went pretty well, although my left leg (and particularly calf) played up a lot towards the end.
Bodyweight: 93.7kg
I feel like I need to start incorporating more variety into my sessions, as any time I use a muscle I don’t directly train, it gets really sore. I need to at least get some light direct work in for calves, chest, abs and arms. Back, quads and hams are fine with rows, squats and swings, but realistically those are the only 3 exercise I do with any good degree of consistency.
[quote]furo wrote:
I feel like I need to start incorporating more variety into my sessions, as any time I use a muscle I don’t directly train, it gets really sore. I need to at least get some light direct work in for calves, chest, abs and arms.[/quote]
MOAR PRESSING!
I kid, but only lightly. Clean-and-press seems to do something for the arms and, to a lesser degree, even the chest a bit (although I really ought to start doing some old-fashioned pushups as well).
You mentioned going “back to the gym” soon. Was it closed for a time? Do you have a membership / will it cost money to buy one?
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]furo wrote:
I feel like I need to start incorporating more variety into my sessions, as any time I use a muscle I don’t directly train, it gets really sore. I need to at least get some light direct work in for calves, chest, abs and arms.[/quote]
MOAR PRESSING!
I kid, but only lightly. Clean-and-press seems to do something for the arms and, to a lesser degree, even the chest a bit (although I really ought to start doing some old-fashioned pushups as well).
You mentioned going “back to the gym” soon. Was it closed for a time? Do you have a membership / will it cost money to buy one?[/quote]
Yes I will definitely base my training around clean-and-presses, rows, swings and goblet squats. I just feel like it might be a good idea to add in some finishers on untrained bodyparts. AMRAP BW calf raises and push-ups and sit-ups would be good.
Yes I’ve been a member of a gym/swimming pool/sauna since August. The gym was rubbish but the pool and sauna are great so I’ve mostly just been using it for that. They closed the gym in Nov and now it has re-opened and even has squat racks!!! So I’m keen to check it out.
I saw your posts in that vaccination thread. Good for you man, but I stopped venturing into PWI a long time ago. More headache that’s worth I’ve found lol! But good for you speaking sense :).
