28/11 5x5 W2 D2 part 1
Rack pull
130x5
120x5
Press
50x5
55x5
57.5x3+2
52.5x5
50x5
BtnP
40x5x5
Shrugs
80x8
70x12+8+6
Ton of bpa’s
Elbow not happy. High pulls a no go, so upright rows are out too. Heavy shrugs a no go, not too bad going lighter for reps. Pressing is okay, don’t know why but I’ll take it. Played around with banded pushdown set up. Rack pulls a waste of time, can’t set lower than my knees. Not a bad session all things considered.
Friday 29/11 5x5 W2 D2 part 2 92.0kg (!)
30 mins w/u on rower same pace and stroke rate as Wednesday
Squat
100x5
107.5x5
115x5
122.5x5
127.5x5
I nearly didn’t add 5kg to that last set, glad I did, it moved better than the set at 122. Gave my sleeves a trial, placebo effect or not, something clicked (the five minutes rest probably contributed, too).
Tomorrow I’ll get some much needed mobility work in, probably won’t lift now until Monday, give my elbow 48 hours
Ha, I feel like I should be earning the “right” to wear them, but I felt that way about a belt and straps too… And honestly my main reason for buying them is to keep my knees warm on the sub zero days, but will only squat in shorts
Yea I get that, but here’s my unsolicited musing: at the end of the day knee sleeves help keep your joints warm and slightly compressed, that’s a good thing in my book regardless of ability. Similar in a way to belts, but you need to learn to lift properly first, then learn to use a belt properly.
Straps, I seldom use, maybe for a giant set that really hammers grip and I’m trying to target other muscles. I’d say you want to ensure you’re not missing out on grip and forearms but if your not overly reliant on them and got good balanced training, have at it.
Absolutely. I think there can easily be an element of “misuse” with some kit. I think squatting 3x5 3x a week when the bar started feeling pretty darn heavy was the trigger for a belt, after chatting to a guy bigger and stronger than me. If a dude squatting 200kg in the rack next to me talks, I listen. Straps are pretty much reserved for high reps, I feel my grip is always playing catch up.
Short on time, so took the approach of hitting two bang for my buck exercises and got the dips in between unloading the bar after squats. Top squat set was garbage, will go again later in the week…
This COULD be because, with you not using straps, your grip get too fatigued from your regular training you never get a chance to actually focus on training it. It’s kinda like how you’ll never be great at sprinting if you have to run back and forth to the track for practice because you don’t own a car. You’re too fatigued to dig deep when the time comes.
I ALWAYS use straps in training, and my grip has gotten much better when I did so.
Completely get the analogy, something I’ll have to consider. A vice like grip has an element of badass about, I don’t want to neglect it/work round it!
04/12/24
Warm up 3 rounds as a circuit
Goblet squat with curl at the bottom x12
Push ups x15
BPA x20
Bench
60x5
70x5
80x5
85x2
75x7
65x10
A1) Swiss bar bench 60x3x10
A2) BB curls 30x3x10
BB Rows
70x15 12
Leg raises off bench 3x15
My lower back/glutes/hips were not happy yesterday. Lots of tension, couldn’t sit in the same position for X period of time, no flexibility trying to stretch it. I don’t think any particular day or rep triggered it, but the accumulated load of regular squatting the last 8-10 weeks. On the plus side, elbow seems to be sorting itself out! Bench went better than anticipated today, a solid double, didn’t feel the need, or want, to strain for three.
I’m going to run a block of 5/3/1, will give Beyond another skim over this weekend. Aim is the classic 1/2/3/4 plates (for 5 reps) and this will get me there. Mobility has been massively neglected, so bumping that up in my list of priorities.
On another note @decimation I’m on a two week course at work, with lunch provided. Same as you recently? Day one was a pie, processed sandwich, packet of crisps and a chocolate bar. Oh, and an apple in the interest of balance. No wonder we have a health crisis in the UK … I’m now that guy who made up a week’s worth of tuna rice and peas (with a little sweet chilli sauce because life is too short). Half the calories (500 Vs 1000) with at least 3x as much protein. Probably cost me no more than £1.50 a serving inc the electric to cook my rice.
Just contradicted myself from a previous post regarding not starting a fresh program on a Monday. But I wanted to squat so it made sense.
Opted to pause my FSL squats, as it got heavy in recent weeks I was becoming dependent on the rebound, want to regain some control on my tempo and form. I have a tendency to lean forward on the return, too, so leaving the ego at the door and tidying things up.
From previous experience split squats = happy hips. Dips and bpa’s in a daily dose manner.
“Enjoying” the fasted sessions the last two weeks. My typical work schedule doesn’t accommodate this (unless I train at 3:30am), but it’s definitely something I am appreciative of and could get used to. Unfortunately only a few days until normality resumes!
Dips 7x10 (superset with fsl squats and good mornings
Leg raises off bench total 50
Bpax40
Good session today. Doesn’t look much on paper, but that was 8 good reps squatting and the paused squats get quite humbling after a couple of sets. Don’t want to push the split squats because from past experience, I can leave myself unable to walk for 48 hours. That’s not really the goal atm.
Bodyweight dips are becoming an every day theme, they feel good after the rower to balance out a lot of pulling motion, and I don’t feel like I’m completely neglecting my upper body on “leg day”. My station is limited to 100kg total load, so I’ll just be pushing the reps. Wendler speaks of working up to 200 in a session, and I am sure it won’t be 20 sets of 10…
14/12/24
Longer piece on the Erg, some good low rate metres banked
15/12/24 C1 W2 D2
Bench
55x3 65x3 72x10 65x5x5
Swiss bar incline press
40x14 45x11 50x7
BB curls
Barx60 broken
Dips
X18 14
Conditioning cut short, picked up a cold and had a rough night sleep as a result. So all things considered bench went well.
Don’t know what’s going on with my elbow. Holding a pan to dish up dinner last night results in a sharp pain, as does any rowing movement under load (Erg is okay). No issues curling and can press with confidence. Keeping up with the band pull aparts, not so much the banded pushdowns, the set up is complicated for me as I’ve nowhere high up to loop a band through.
Done. Was setting up a circuit of shrugs, curls and dips, but I was absolutely winded. Coughing up all sorts, headache set in… Still, I’m approaching estimated PR territory if I can carry the reps over in to the next cycle, whilst in better shape than peak Starting Strength.
Swiss bar pressing felt a little awkward, but in a “I’ve got to brace all over and rep these out” kind of awkward.
First time pressing it overhead, yes. More for variety sake, really, rotating through different pressing movements in support of pushing my barbell press. I like the wider grip set up, much like I set up for behind the neck presses, but I was paying extra attention not to smash my chin.
Bulgarian split squat
16x12 12x12 bwx12 dropset 1xset each leg
Leg raises xsome
This cold has legit hit me for six, but got the work in. At least it’s only my own kit I’m coughing my lungs up over, this was not the sort of day to be in a commercial gym…
Need either a) more tools or b) to be more creative in pushing the intensity on the single leg work. A safety squat bar is next on my wish list, but if I can pick up a deal on some dumbbells, that may take priority.
