Grettiron's Training Log

Training Training Logs
441

Tues 8/24

warm up: back raises, decline situps, hip flexor stretch, leg swings, DB swings

SSB SQ
65,155,205,245,295,335x5, TUT sets: 205x15,20 (yeehaw haha)

seated SSB GM
155,205,245,295x10
Nautilus calf machine
3 sets, target gastroc

leg extensions
4 or 5 sets, worked up to a hard 15
back raise
BW,45,100x10, 100x20
Nautilus calf machine
4 sets, just moving as much weight as possible with pauses.

Today was great! Nothing like going through the routine in a fog, struggling for consciousness lol. Legs were still pretty sore from Sunday, but as soon as I started squatting everything felt great. 335 was smooth and not hard… if it was a strength day I would have gone higher. TUT sets were good… first one was testing the weight and the set of 20 was awesome. Had to wait on the floor for a little afterward for my quads to recover enough to stand lol. I love the SSB :slight_smile:

SSB GMs were good, extensions were good… really focused on squeezing the right muscles. Back raises were excellent. Calves are coming up. Gonna put up some pictures later this week as sort of a baseline… want to see if my efforts at calf and upper chest improvement are working.

442

wed 8/25

warm up: arm circles, DB arm swings, AVG shoulder traction, mil press, muscle snatch

seated MP - No lockout and no pausing on TUT sets
95,115,135,155x5, TUT sets: 115x10, 125x12,12
WG pullup
BWx2x10, 25x10, 45x3x5, 45x10

shoulder raise - lateral/rear only
25,30x10, 35x8, 35x10/0
muscle snatch
45x10, 65x10,9

rope curl/pressdowns
4 or 5 sets

Stretch

Seated mil press felt good. WG pulls felt better, stronger. Was going to do dips after the SMP, but my front delts and pecs refused so I did shoulder raises instead. The muscle snatch with a little extra weight felt really good… might have to do those again. Curls and pressdowns were good. Might have to take tomorrow off and just make up the difference next week (trying to get my rotation back to a Monday Squat day).

Official BW was 183 today (calibrated scale).

443

thurs 8/26

Felt great today, so I went to the gym.

warm up: back raise, decline situps, hip flexor stretch, leg swings, DB swings (I’ll call this the new lower usual)

conventional DL - TUT sets are a little different here… noted below.
135,225,315,365,405x5, TUT sets: 315x15, 335x20 (brutal)

wide-stance leg press - seriously target the adductors
200x3x10, 400x10, 490x10
Naut. calf raises - most weight with a pause
5 sets of 10-20

back raise/decline situps
45x10, 100x2x10

Stretch

So for deadlifting, I don’t know how to not lockout and don’t really want to be practicing that anyway, so I just kept the pace quick. 335x20 was very tough… struggling for air and my upper back lost feeling around rep 17. You can see the last rep was tough to lockout… upper back was really struggling by that point. Not shown is the 5 minutes I spent on the floor due to no brain blood flow while standing. I wonder if this is an actual issue as it seems to be happening quite a bit recently.

I was ready to call it quits after deads but rested a bit and decided to do some leg presses. Wide stance is awesome… really hit the adductors directly and I think this may help my sumo dead off the floor. Took a bunch of warm up sets because I definitely don’t want to injure those - I hear healing can be a bitch.

Back raises and situps were easy… just getting the work in.

Video:

God damn I am white. Must be the Scandinavian blood.

444

fri 8/27

warm up: arm circles, DB arm swings, AVG shoulder traction, mil press, muscle snatch

Bench, cable row, BB pullover, waist-height cable fly, BB OH extension, BB curl.

Benching sucked. It hurt and I was weak… did manage to find a not-painful groove but I was even weaker and did not feel any pec involvement.

However cable flyes were revealing and gave me hope. My right pec is seriously weak. I had to start at the second pin down on the stack (really light). It hurt at first but began to loosen up and start firing. Did several high rep sets and managed to get to the 4th pin down. I think this will be my primary rehab exercise until both sides are equal and much stronger. Going to stick with inclines as a benching movement and hit the cable flyes hard for the next cycle, then re-evaluate.

It occurs to me that a flat bench groove that doesn’t hurt too bad is probably one that doesn’t involve much pec… maybe why my tris and delts are fried before I really feel any chest work.

445

335x20…Freakin’ insane! How many days did it take you to walk after that?
Good luck on your benching, bro

446

[quote]whup wrote:
335x20…Freakin’ insane! How many days did it take you to walk after that?
Good luck on your benching, bro[/quote]

Now that you mention it, there wasn’t really any soreness. Must mean my back is the weak link.

Thanks whup, I think I need it.

447

mon 8/30

warm up: back raises, decline situps, hip flexor stretch, leg swings, DB swings, WS leg press

squat - belt at 365, wraps at 405
135,225,315,365x5, 405x3, 455x3, 465x3, 475x4 (PR +1 rep)

wide-stance leg press - target adductors
200,400x10, 490x8, 580x8,10
nautilus machine calves
5 sets

back raise/decline situps
45x10, 100x2x10

Yay squat PR! A guy was using the good rack when I got there, so I started with the shitty rack. It wobbles and so the position of the j-hooks changes when unloaded. At 405 I missed the j-hook which kind of annoyed me. So stripped it and moved to the good rack to continue. The dude who was using the good rack later told me, “Dude if you’re squatting, just tell me to get the fuck out of your rack.”

WS leg presses were excellent. Back raises and situps were also good. No passing out this time!

405x3 mis-rack:

475x4:

448

Whew! Good recovery

449

tue 8/31

warm up: plate swings, AVG traction, mil press, muscle snatch

mil press
95,115,135x5, 155x3 (uh oh), 155x3,5, PP: 155x10
WG pullup
BWx2x10, 25x10, 45x6, 70x3,3,6, BWx15

dips
BWx2x10, 45x6, 90x6, 135x4, 45x10
SWG pullup
BWx5x6

floor skull crusher/reverse curl - 15lb bar?
65,85,95,105x10, 85x15, 65x20

stretch and light cable flyes.

Mil pressing was very weak today. WG pullups are feeling better and better. Dips were ok, super-wide grip pullups were great. Arm stuff was awesome. Stretching and flyes were also good… would do some flyes and then stretch with the AVG band and repeat.

Going to have to deadlift at school on Thursday… I hope it’s not too crowded with babies.

450

thurs 9/2

warm up: SLDL, GM, BB lunge, pulldown abs

sumo dl - belt at 455
225,315,405x5, 455x3, 495x3,7 (PR +3 reps. Fuck. Yes.), conv dl: 315x10 T&G

BB lunge - total lunges, alternating sides
135,185,225x2x10, 225x30

wide stance SLDL - straps at 275
135,185,225,275x10

stretch

Big PR! Much faster off the floor and much smoother over all. Oh man I’m stoked! I will try to get to Bay State next week and get some video (assuming I hit another PR). Back on track for 585! It was challenging to lock out the 7th rep: upper back was fatigued more than anything else, again. Need more high-rep conventional deads. And heavier WS leg presses of course.

BB lunges were pretty sweet. WS SLDL were great, but I prefer back raises.

Not sure how functional I’m going to be for the rest of the day… this is why I started lifting before bed… just come home eat and go to sleep.

451

[quote]grettiron wrote:
thurs 9/2

warm up: SLDL, GM, BB lunge, pulldown abs

sumo dl - belt at 455
225,315,405x5, 455x3, 495x3,7 (PR +3 reps. Fuck. Yes.), conv dl: 315x10 T&G

BB lunge - total lunges, alternating sides
135,185,225x2x10, 225x30

wide stance SLDL - straps at 275
135,185,225,275x10

stretch

Big PR! Much faster off the floor and much smoother over all. Oh man I’m stoked! I will try to get to Bay State next week and get some video (assuming I hit another PR). Back on track for 585! It was challenging to lock out the 7th rep: upper back was fatigued more than anything else, again. Need more high-rep conventional deads. And heavier WS leg presses of course.

BB lunges were pretty sweet. WS SLDL were great, but I prefer back raises.

Not sure how functional I’m going to be for the rest of the day… this is why I started lifting before bed… just come home eat and go to sleep.[/quote]

Phenomenal work, great going buddy!

452

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Phenomenal work, great going buddy![/quote]

Aww, thanks mrodock. I was pretty happy about that day.

453

tues 9/7

warm up: dime arm swings, mil press, muscle snatch (forgot my bands again)

incline bench - wraps at 205, belt at 215
95,135,155x5, 185x3, 205x3, 215x3, 225x2,1, 185x8
t-bar row
70,115,160,180,205x10, 225x6, 135x20

cable fly
5 or 6 sets
muscle snatch
45x10, 65x10, 75x3x6

OH ext/BB curl
45,65x10, 95x6,8,8, 75xPlenty+3+3
pressdown/rope curl
4 high-rep sets

Benching, although weak, felt really good today. Feels like my chest is coming online and even though I was weak I could definitely could have ground out a few extra reps here and there. The key phrase being “ground out” because that has never been an option for me (usually it’s go or no-go).

Flyes are feeling better by the session and muscle snatches are also getting stronger.

Did extra arm work to make up for being weak and got a pretty good pump on.

454

fri 9/10

So I got crushed by a head cold Tuesday night/Wednesday/Thursday. Didn’t eat much at all Wed and just slept, Thurs was much better sickness wise and a little better food wise. So I had low expectations about squatting but things turned out better than expected.

warm up: back raise, decline situps, leg swings, DB swings

squat - belt at 405, wraps at 455
135,225,315x5, 365x3, 405x3, 455x3, 465x3, 455x3

GM - belt at 315
135,225x10, 315x3x10

WS leg press
200,400x10, 580x8,10,10

calves
STR band hammy traction and quad stretch

Squatting was ok… wish I had my camera for depth feedback because I get the feeling these were excessively deep. GMs were good. WS leg press was pretty good - higher foot placement is better I think… give more room for my thighs in the hole.

The band hammy traction is amazing and my new favorite stretch. My legs are nice and soft while relaxed now, which I believe means the tissue is in good condition. There is some knee pain which I’m having trouble tracking down… probably has something to do with my calves.

455

sat 9/11

warm up: DB arm swings, AVG shoulder traction, mil press, muscle snatch

mil press
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 165x2x3, push press: 165x7
pull up
BWx2x10, 25x10, 45x5, 70x3, 90x2x3

dip
BWx2x10, 45x2x8, 90x2x6
chin up
BWx6x10

EZ reverse curl/skullcrushers - 15lb bar
65x10, 75x10, 85x8, 95x6

5 sets cable flyes
stretch a little

Decent day. I gotta start eating more again. My belt has tightened up by 2 notches so I’m skinnier at 181 than I’ve ever been.

456

[quote]grettiron wrote:
fri 9/10

So I got crushed by a head cold Tuesday night/Wednesday/Thursday. Didn’t eat much at all Wed and just slept, Thurs was much better sickness wise and a little better food wise. So I had low expectations about squatting but things turned out better than expected.

warm up: back raise, decline situps, leg swings, DB swings

squat - belt at 405, wraps at 455
135,225,315x5, 365x3, 405x3, 455x3, 465x3, 455x3

GM - belt at 315
135,225x10, 315x3x10

WS leg press
200,400x10, 580x8,10,10

calves
STR band hammy traction and quad stretch

Squatting was ok… wish I had my camera for depth feedback because I get the feeling these were excessively deep. GMs were good. WS leg press was pretty good - higher foot placement is better I think… give more room for my thighs in the hole.

The band hammy traction is amazing and my new favorite stretch. My legs are nice and soft while relaxed now, which I believe means the tissue is in good condition. There is some knee pain which I’m having trouble tracking down… probably has something to do with my calves.[/quote]

Oh man I hate when I’m super sick so I can only squat 465x3, and I go deeper than I need to… oh wait.

Bastard :slight_smile:

Hope that knee feels better

457

[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:

[quote]grettiron wrote:
fri 9/10

So I got crushed by a head cold Tuesday night/Wednesday/Thursday. Didn’t eat much at all Wed and just slept, Thurs was much better sickness wise and a little better food wise. So I had low expectations about squatting but things turned out better than expected.

warm up: back raise, decline situps, leg swings, DB swings

squat - belt at 405, wraps at 455
135,225,315x5, 365x3, 405x3, 455x3, 465x3, 455x3

GM - belt at 315
135,225x10, 315x3x10

WS leg press
200,400x10, 580x8,10,10

calves
STR band hammy traction and quad stretch

Squatting was ok… wish I had my camera for depth feedback because I get the feeling these were excessively deep. GMs were good. WS leg press was pretty good - higher foot placement is better I think… give more room for my thighs in the hole.

The band hammy traction is amazing and my new favorite stretch. My legs are nice and soft while relaxed now, which I believe means the tissue is in good condition. There is some knee pain which I’m having trouble tracking down… probably has something to do with my calves.[/quote]

Oh man I hate when I’m super sick so I can only squat 465x3, and I go deeper than I need to… oh wait.

Bastard :slight_smile:

Hope that knee feels better[/quote]

Lol, touche.

458

mon 9/13

warm up: back raise, decline situp, leg swing, DB swing

sumo dl - belt at 495
135,225,315x5, 405x3, 455x3, 495x3, 505x3, 515x2 (damn. PR +1 rep)

BB lunge - steps total
135x16, 185x10, 225x10, 275x6 (oops), 225x10

back raise/leg ext/calve raise
5 sets or so

STR ham and quad traction

Small PR… kind of disappointing. Low back was not completely recovered from GMs on Friday. Looking back I see that last time I did not do GMs on squat day and had a great dead day. Gonna switch things around so this is always the case. Tentative plan:

SQ, BB or DB Lunge, Leg press, back raise

DL, RDL or SLDL, leg curl/extension (no back raise at the school gym… how lame is that?)

Lunges were ok… really trying to bring up my left VL. Back raises were excellent for the hammies/low back. Leg extensions were ok but didn’t really kill myself over them.

I’m no longer sick but there is a persistent cough that I wish would go away.

459

tues 9/14

warm up: DB arm swings, AVG shoulder traction, mil press, muscle snatch

incline bench
95,135,155x7, 185x3, 205x3,3,4 (PR +1 rep), 155x11
t-bar row - close, neutral grip
90,135,160,180x10, 205x6 (kept hitting belt, called it quits), 180x2x10

muscle snatch
45,65x10, 75x10,8
cable fly
4 sets

OH ext/BB curl
45x10, 85x10, 95x6,8, 95x9/8

Weak on the incline bench again, but now I wonder if this bench is sufficiently different from the one I started on. Rows were OK, flyes were better than ever (no pain, equal strength). Muscle snatch is getting stronger.

Figured out on my last IBP set of 205 that pulling the bar apart made the lift easier. I will remember this for next time. Weight is down to 179… uh oh better ramp up the food intake even more.

460

wed 9/15

warm up: leg swings, DB swings, few front squats

front squat - belt at 275
135,185,225,275x5, TUT sets: 185x15, 205x15 (PR +20lbs, not that it matters here)

BB lunge - belt at 275, steps total
135,185,225,275x10, 315x6, 225x20 (gahhhhh tough sets, jelly legs)

leg press - medium-wide, high on the footplate, still targeting adductors, weight is plates only
180,270,360,450,540x10
calf raises - SS w/leg press
270,360,450,540x10+

Stretch, then stretch some more

The AC was turned off so it was a little humid and warm in there. Pretty intense session. Front squats went well, didn’t lose upper back arch much even up to 275. Managed to get the bar closer to my throat which helped. TUT sets worked the legs over pretty well, then lunges really hammered them. Lunges were short steps for more quad work. 275 was manageable so I wanted 315, even though walking was already difficult. Focus was intense. 225 down set sucked big time due to it being hard. Leg pressing was excellent as usual.

Zero low back stress today… gotta save it all for deads on Friday.