[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
You may have stumbled upon a great idea with all the creative use of suspended and SSB work. I doubt 2 or 3 weeks of it has done much for my pull, but for some reason my most recent pulling session went unusually well. [/quote]
Great news! Yeah time will tell of course, but that is promising to hear.
thurs 3/1
warm up: rumble roll, clean, press, cuban press, AVG traction
seated mp - to chest
95,135x10, 155x6, 185x2 (too heavy), 165x6, 135x11
CG incline - index at smooth
135,155x10, 185x7,9
shit ton of shoulder/bicep/rotator work
Today was pretty nice. The seated presses and CG inclines really did a number on my triceps, which is a good thing. Actually, CG inclines went much better than expected. Moar tris! Moar lockout!
Also, we’ve been doing like 3x more rear delt/rotator work than I’ve ever done before (band face pulls, rear delt raises, pull-aparts, etc) so that might also explain why my shoulder has been holding up rather well. An the turmeric probably helps.
sat 3/3
warm up: rumble/LAX roll, KB swing, GHR situps, calf raise
squat
135,225,315x10, 365x8, 405x10,10,8, 315x10ish,13
rev hyper/calf raise
3x15+
stretch
Couple technique issues came to light today. Seems my upper back rocks forward and then back in the hole, which sometimes causes me to shoot forward if I’m not paying attention. This happened the worst on the 365 set. Seeing as I’ve never squatted 405x10 before, this went pretty well. Gave me a wicked splitting headache though. And my quads and adductors are already trembling and tightening up. Insane. Last set I didn’t think I could even squat my bodyweight, let alone 315.
My training partner said he was trying to kill me. But I’m still here!
mon 3/5
warm up: rumble roll, AVG traction, clean, cuban press
bench
135x20, 185x10, 225x5, 275x2, 295x1,1,1
CG bench - against chains
135+1CHx10, 135+2CHx10, 135+3CHx8, 135+4CHx4.9
tricep work, band pull-aparts, lots of stretching
contrast shower, yikes
Benching was so-so today. Think I was touching too low which gave me a mid-range hitch on the first rep of 295. 2nd set was better but 3rd set was meh. CG against chain was pretty awesome.
My legs are still absolutely destroyed from Saturday and now my low back is a little uncomfortable from arching on the bench. The only possible deadlift day is tomorrow as I’m leaving for NH on Thursday. We’re going to be pulling straight weight from the floor. I’d like to think it’s going to go well, but I’d need an overnight miracle recovery for that to happen.
tues 3/6
warm up: rumble roll, KB swings, GHR situps, lunge, SLDL
sumo dl
245,335x5, 425x2, 515,565x1, 605x1,0, 515x2,2
squat machine - reps only
10,22,30
GHR
BWx10,12,15
stretch
Well my quads are still wrecked but my back was ok. Wasn’t expecting much at all today so hitting 605 was a pleasant surprise. Came forward a little and stalled at the knees but managed to recover and finish the pull. Conveniently, whenever I come forward, my calves contract really hard and so it’s easy to identify the problem. Second single at 605 was glued to the floor. Tried some fast doubles at 515 afterward and they weren’t too bad.
Got a little competitive with the squat machine sets and re-fried my quads… so I look forward to an additional week of excruciating pain with every step.
3/9
warm up: rumble roller, clean, press, cuban press
power clean and jerk - each rep from floor
135x2x5, 185x5, 225x3,3,3
CG incline bench
135x10, 185x6,6,6
rope climb/monkey bars
2 sets each
DB curl to OHP
3x15
bent DB rear delt raise
3x10+
lateral raise/AVG band face pull
2 sets
stretch
The C&Js went pretty well, I was pleasantly surprised. Close grip inclines felt pretty good as well… lockout seems to be improving slightly. The owner at my Nashua gym (who is also training my fiancee) is letting me lift for free over spring break, which I really appreciate.
3/12
warm up: rumble/LAX roll, STR hip flexor stretch, KB swing, lunge
squat
135x10, 225,315x6ish, 405x2, (belt) 455x1 eh not so great
GM to pins - good height
225,315x10, 405x4,4
stretch
Wasn’t feeling it today. In hindsight, I think I should have squatted to a box because my hip flexors were killing me and last time that was an issue, squatting to a box helped a lot. Anyway, descent speed was good and depth was good but the first movement out of the hole was my hips shooting back and up a little. Clearly not good. The box would have helped. Oh well, next time. Hopefully I start getting stronger at some point. Next week I’m back in MN, but my training partner is taking the week off as he has a meet on the 24th.
Squats seem to be in a state of regression. Best to nip this in the bud asap rather than let it build up to something costly.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Squats seem to be in a state of regression. Best to nip this in the bud asap rather than let it build up to something costly.[/quote]
Yeah, I think I need to bring back the reverse bands and wraps. I was doing rev band almost every week when I peaked at 565 and could hit 495 raw pretty much whenever I wanted.
The week of weakness:
tues
worked up to a bench single at 275
inclines 185x3x6
thurs
power cleans to 225x3, high pulls at 255, sumo deads up to 495x5
fri
mil press to 175, push press to an easy 215, jerk to 235
pullups +90x3x4 and BWx25
For some reason the overhead work went pretty well. I love jerking, it just feels so good. Starting off with a military press and then moving to push press and jerk as the weight moves up felt like a pretty good way to work things. Maybe my OHP doesn’t have to suck.
Anyway, back in Minneapolis so the heavy lifting can start again on Monday, hopefully.
[quote]
I love jerking, it just feels so good.[/quote]
Why yes, yes it does.
mon 3/19 - rebuilding the squat
warm up: rumble/LAX roll, KB swing, STR band hip flexor stretch, GHR situps, deep walking lunge
squat to box - short box plus 2 mats until indicated
135,225x10, 315x7, (remove 1 mat, belt) 405x3, 455x1, (rev avg) 495x3, (inzer black wraps) 545x3, 585x2, (belt only) 405x7
SSB GM - pretty low, close stance
155,205x10, (belt) 245x8,8
STR band pulldown abs
superset
So a lot of things today. Hip flexors and hips in general were really really tight today so I took the warmups to a higher box until things loosened up. I’m going to blame the weather and travel. Not going to push the straight weight until my technique improves again and the Rev band stuff helps a lot.
Those inzer wraps suck but it’s all I brought today. The stretchiness between the two wraps in the pair is totally different. QC anyone? No wonder that shit was cheap. Wrap sets felt pretty good but I forgot to turn on my camera for 585x2… nose torque induced forgetfulness.
Decided to do something hard and settled on SSB GMs because my back needs more work and I suck at them. Took them fairly low as well. It was hard! Felt like I had to pass gas at the bottom of each rep but I knew it was a trick and didn’t trust it. So the long pause between reps is just me letting my sphincter calm down so there were no surprises.
RB SQ 545x3 and SSB GM 245x8
What da hell, it looks like you’re training alone, why not just fart?
I typically fart on my 3 rep of anything, I dunno why…
I clearly enjoy fart discussions, I talk about it wayyy to much on these damn forums.
So for pin good mornings, what does it work differently than regular good mornings?
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
What da hell, it looks like you’re training alone, why not just fart?
I typically fart on my 3 rep of anything, I dunno why…
I clearly enjoy fart discussions, I talk about it wayyy to much on these damn forums.
So for pin good mornings, what does it work differently than regular good mornings? [/quote]
Because I was extremely suspicious there might be a payload with that fart!
Pin GMs let me collect my senses at the bottom and make sure everything is aligned… kind of a risk mitigation technique. Also to make sure I’m hitting the depth of the day. Safety straps are probably better than pins but they take longer to set up.
tues 3/20
warm up: clean, press, cuban press, rumble roll biceps/pecs
clean + jerk - this was a terrible idea
135,185,185x5, 225x1, jerk only 225x1
biceps screaming at this point because I started racking on my ribcage instead of shoulders and elbows took most of the load
shoulder press on leg press - connor press?
135x10, 135+MINIx3x10, 135x10
pullup
+45x3x10, clenched fist no-grip pullup BWx3x10
machine pullover/rear delt raise/lateral raise
3x10ish
stretch
Should really have done seated presses instead but I wanted to do more cleans and such. Luckily I stopped before any serious injury occurred. Got some lockout work in with the press against minis. The clenched fist no-grip pullup is done by hooking your fist in the hanging leg raise straps (usually they support your upper arm while doing hanging leg raises). Seems to involve more forearm than regular false-grip pullups. Nice for variety and probably beefy forearms if done consistently.
haha not quite connor press. so imagine if you will, a seated chest press on the leg press. i thought we had vid somewhere but i can’t find it. normally you have to pile some boxes on the backrest of the leg press so you can scoot your body far enough forward to use your arams on the leg press.
squatting looked good, all the reverse band!
[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
haha not quite connor press. so imagine if you will, a seated chest press on the leg press. i thought we had vid somewhere but i can’t find it. normally you have to pile some boxes on the backrest of the leg press so you can scoot your body far enough forward to use your arams on the leg press.
squatting looked good, all the reverse band![/quote]
Ahhh, chest press. Yeah, I was sitting on the back pad with my spine roughly parallel to the rails.
I should have never stopped reverse band squatting! Straight weight free squats got me nowhere.
3/22
warm up: rumble/LAX roll, KB swing, GHR situp, SLDL, lunge, STR band pulldown abs
sumo dl
225,315x5, 405x3, 495x2, (belt) 545x1, 585x2 PR
deficit hack squat - couple inches, cambered bar
135,225,315x10, 405x15
calf raise
superset
leg extension/curl/calf raise
3x10+
stretch
Small PR on deads! 2nd rep was kind of a grinder but I didn’t give up. Managed to conjure some fury and that seemed to help. You’d think it would be easier to summon seeing how frequently it explodes over trivial shit, but no. Deficit hack squats were awesome. Good quad work but also more glute work than hack squats from the floor.
585x2 and 405x15:
3/26
warm up: lower usual
squat to box
135,225,315x5, 405x3, (belt) 455x3, (rev avg) 495,545x3, (elite wraps) 585x3, 635x1, (belt, no box, deep) 315x10+
SSB pin GMs
155x10, (belt) 245x10, (rev avg) 335x10,10
calf raise
superset
School sucks bad so today was just a day to get away from it all. Mission accomplished. Squatting is coming back really fast, I’m pleased. This rack is taller than last week’s rack so the bands took off more but it is still pretty good. On the 635 set I think I should have taken a little bit wider stance to really take advantage of the wraps and use my hips more… might not have stalled so badly with a wider stance.
Reverse bands were still set up when I did the GMs, so I gave it a shot. Great idea! Much harder through the mid-range and it hit the mid back a lot more than straight weight. I felt the straight weight in the mid back but also along the outside of the hips and glutes. Both areas need strengthening but my back is highest priority. Vision actually started fading to white on the last set which was a first, and awesome.
585x3, 635x1 squats:
Oh yeah, I also tried benching on Friday but my shoulder was totally fucked. Spent a lot of time on the LAX ball and felt a little better. I’m going to try to do overhead/incline pressing most of the time and only flat bench when things come together.
Next week for squat day I’ll try some cambered bar squats and SLDL to pins. This week for dead day I’m going to do some cleans and then the conventional SSB lift. Probably seated pressing tomorrow as my back is going to be shot.
Also this weekend my training partner lifted in the raw 220s at Relentless, a charity APF/AAPF meet. I was his handler. It was a hell of a show and a great time. My partner hit a 1599 total. Watched Anthony Carlquist squat a massive 1030 and that was seriously awesome. Makes me want to get into gear because that shit looks way more fun than raw lifting.