2/6
warm up: mini band stuff
pin press - from nose
95x19, 115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x2
WG pullup
BWx2x10, 25,45x5, 70x5x3
dip
BWx2x10, 45,90,135,115x6, 90x10
HS DY row
superset
DB pullover/cable flye
4 sets of 10
pushups/shoulder lateral raise/DB curl
3 sets, 10-15 reps
stretch
Pressing is feeling better and better. Kinda down today but with the help of some Dormant Carnivore I persevered.
2/7
warm up: lower usual
SSB squat - belt at 375
65,155,245,275x5, 335x3, 375x5x2
DB walking lunge - weight, steps per hand
BWx2x10, 50x2x10, 80x10, 110x2x10
stretch
Hips and legs were tight today… should have spent some time on the LAX ball and foam roller yesterday & this morning. No biggie, I’ll do some tonight and again as needed. Other than that squats were good, speed was acceptable. Lunges were also fine but damn do they take the wind out of you. Feels like I have to cut back on assistance volume for the moment as I’m having a little trouble keeping recovery up. Guess it’s to be expected with the increase in heavy weight volume.
Assistance, shmassistance… Am I right?
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Assistance, shmassistance… Am I right?[/quote]
Obviously not squatting hard enough if I still have the heart for assistance work!
2/8
warm up: mini band stuff, DB external rotations
hang clean + press
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x2
chin up
BW,25,45,70x5, 100x5x2
seated DB MP - per DB weight
40,50x10, 60,70,80x6, 75x7,6, 60x13
shrugs
superset 10-15 reps
arm stuff
stretch
Pressing was good today. 175 felt pretty manageable, I’m pleased. Seated MP was also great, chin ups were nice, everything was good. Legs need some serious TLC.
2/10
warm up: lower usual
sumo dl - belt at 465
225x2x5, 315x5, 405x3, 465x5x3
SSB box squat - belt at 335
155,245x6, 335x6,6,8
nautilus calf raise
superset
leg extension/leg curl/ab/adductor circuit
4 sets of 10-15 easy
stretch
Next week will be conventional deads… my hips and adductors are beat despite the recovery work. Maybe stick with 2 wks sumo, 1 wk conventional but just keep the rep scheme the same.
Wasn’t feeling it today but got in the mood towards the end of deadlifting. My poor hands are shot for some reason. Deads were good, lots of VMO involvement today which I’m not sure I understand. GMs were fun and another PR. May switch to SSB box squats next week or do one more week of GMs before switching over to straight bar squats (sorry scoops) and SSB box squats (does this make up for it?). Extensions/curls were good, drop set was great.
lol it’s ok, it’s good to throw some straight bar in just to make sure you can still remember how to straight bar squat, it is a weird transition at first.
2/11
warm up: mini band stuff, DB external rotations, traction
OH pin press - from nose height
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 165x5x3
cable row
superset, heavy sets of 10
pushups
5 sets
rickshaw shrugs
5 sets, 10-15
pec deck flyes/rear delt flyes
4x10
arm stuff
stretch
Pressing was great, nice and fast. Threw out my straps because they are chewed almost halfway through. Hence rickshaw shrugs. Smooth grips tore my hands tho. Shoulders hurt when I tried SSB pushups so I switched to incline pushups and everything was good. Tried doing pullovers but they really hurt… I think the pullovers I did on Sunday are the reason they hurt today. I’ll lay off those.
2/14
warm up: squats
squat - belt at 405
135,135,185x10, 225,315x5, 365x3, 405x5x3
front squat - belt at 275
135,185,225,275x6, 315x3
step-up/SLDL - BW/135
4 sets of 10
stretch yo
Had to lift at the school gym today. Just did a lot of bar squats to warm up then got to it. 405x5x3 went well, nice and smooth. The clown in the video worked up to 275 1/8 squats with his bro. It was terrible to watch: pitiful ROM and knees caving in on the way up. If these two keep it up (unlikely) I’m sure they’ll blame their busted knees and bad backs on squatting as they bench with ass off the bench, humping the bar. Anyway.
Front squats were a nice change of pace… trying to let my hand heal up otherwise I would have done more walking lunges. 315 doesn’t look too terribly bad on video but it felt like my upper back had collapsed completely. More upper back work.
405:
315:
BW was 176 after lifting. Gotta start hitting the spoon and fork harder.
[quote]grettiron wrote:
These knee sleeves are so amazing. They put pressure on all the right places! VMO was a little unhappy after deads so I threw them on and viola, no more discomfort. Also there was no hamstring/upper calf discomfort when doing leg curls (seems to have finally healed but the sleeves definitely didn’t hurt). Awesome product!
[/quote]
Rehbands are the shit, those things make my knees feel great all the time.
Sick front squat by the way
[quote]Astar wrote:
[quote]grettiron wrote:
These knee sleeves are so amazing. They put pressure on all the right places! VMO was a little unhappy after deads so I threw them on and viola, no more discomfort. Also there was no hamstring/upper calf discomfort when doing leg curls (seems to have finally healed but the sleeves definitely didn’t hurt). Awesome product!
[/quote]
Rehbands are the shit, those things make my knees feel great all the time.
Sick front squat by the way[/quote]
Seriously. I think I’m in love.
2/15
warm up: mini band stuff
clean and press - from the hang
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x3
pullup
BW,25,45x5, 70x3, 90x5x3
RG OHP - with leg drive
95,115x10, 135x3x10
NG pullup
BWx10,10, BWx3x15
arm stuff
Was a little anxious about the 175 working sets but everything went smoothly. Guess I’ll try 185 for doubles next week. I think the reverse grip OHP is helping build my collar a little. I like it!
Video (actually, this is pretty close to my BW):
2/17
warm up: lower usual
conv dl - belt at 405
135,225,315x5, 405x5x3
SSB box squat - wide stance, one pin higher than usual… just above parallel
155,245x10, 335x6, belt on, 365,385,405x6, belt off, 335x16
leg extension/lying leg curl
4 or 5 sets, 10 reps. last set extended ~20 reps
stretch
Conventional deads suck. Can’t seem to keep a neutral spine or keep the shoulders back. Regardless, 5 sets of 3 was fine. SSB squats went very well… I think I’ve been putting on the bar incorrectly until now because it felt perfect today. Down set of 335 was magical. Mid back was fucking nuked, for lack of a better term. Let me try to describe this experience as it doesn’t happen often and it’s one of the reasons I train.
Things start to get interesting deep into the set. The mid back begins to scream. It’s not pain… pain is when you hit your head or stub your toe (or break a leg). It’s willpower, manifest. A screaming heat; excitation. The breath… the body is desperate to breathe… at each pause, a short rest to satisfy the desperate desire for air. Peripheral vision is gone, it dropped away 6 reps in. The wall is crystal clear, but with each desperate inhalation, holes appear. What’s left of the field of view is crystal clear, but it’s full of holes that can’t be seen. It’s as if there isn’t enough data… parts are omitted. More breaths; the screaming is deafening. The burden of life and baggage of the self slip away. There is nothing but willpower, fighting against the agony of muscle and the desperate desire to breathe. When to give up? Have you suffered enough? Can you suffer a little more? How strong is your resolve? More reps. Then your questions are answered: the erectors say, “You can try again, but we won’t support you.” Rack it. But this is not the climax. There’s still the unbearable desire to breathe. Muscles are unloaded, but still firing. Tremendous residual tension. Writhing on the floor as eyes stare blankly at the ceiling. Writhing, craving release, desperate. Seconds slip by and yet no release… hips up, tension reduces in the back but builds elsewhere. More writhing. Slowly the tension begins to subside. Eyes no longer lifeless and glassy… breathing is heavy but no longer desperate… tension releases, the body relaxes. The other senses come back online, awareness returns. Serenity washes over you and the breath slows. Vision is clear and complete. Can you stand up without falling down? Try. Fail. Rest. Try again. Success. We’re in the clear… back to earth.
Vid (not the set described):
2/18
warm up: mini band stuff, muscle snatch
OH pin press - from nose height
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x3
cable row - wide neutral grip
superset
seated DB OHP - DB weight per hand
40,55,65,75x6, 80x4 (oops), 60x14
rickshaw shrug
superset
cable flye/rear delt flye
5 sets
incline pushups/DB curl
3 sets
stretch
Finally made a spreadsheet to keep track of things for this program… so the 5x3 week will be repeated next week. Pressing was fine… first working set was slow but sped up quite a bit… guess the nervous system just had to get it together. Now time for some Kix.
[quote]grettiron wrote:
2/17
warm up: lower usual
conv dl - belt at 405
135,225,315x5, 405x5x3
SSB box squat - wide stance, one pin higher than usual… just above parallel
155,245x10, 335x6, belt on, 365,385,405x6, belt off, 335x16
leg extension/lying leg curl
4 or 5 sets, 10 reps. last set extended ~20 reps
stretch
Conventional deads suck. Can’t seem to keep a neutral spine or keep the shoulders back. Regardless, 5 sets of 3 was fine. SSB squats went very well… I think I’ve been putting on the bar incorrectly until now because it felt perfect today. Down set of 335 was magical. Mid back was fucking nuked, for lack of a better term. Let me try to describe this experience as it doesn’t happen often and it’s one of the reasons I train.
Things start to get interesting deep into the set. The mid back begins to scream. It’s not pain… pain is when you hit your head or stub your toe (or break a leg). It’s willpower, manifest. A screaming heat; excitation. The breath… the body is desperate to breathe… at each pause, a short rest to satisfy the desperate desire for air. Peripheral vision is gone, it dropped away 6 reps in. The wall is crystal clear, but with each desperate inhalation, holes appear. What’s left of the field of view is crystal clear, but it’s full of holes that can’t be seen. It’s as if there isn’t enough data… parts are omitted. More breaths; the screaming is deafening. The burden of life and baggage of the self slip away. There is nothing but willpower, fighting against the agony of muscle and the desperate desire to breathe. When to give up? Have you suffered enough? Can you suffer a little more? How strong is your resolve? More reps. Then your questions are answered: the erectors say, “You can try again, but we won’t support you.” Rack it. But this is not the climax. There’s still the unbearable desire to breathe. Muscles are unloaded, but still firing. Tremendous residual tension. Writhing on the floor as eyes stare blankly at the ceiling. Writhing, craving release, desperate. Seconds slip by and yet no release… hips up, tension reduces in the back but builds elsewhere. More writhing. Slowly the tension begins to subside. Eyes no longer lifeless and glassy… breathing is heavy but no longer desperate… tension releases, the body relaxes. The other senses come back online, awareness returns. Serenity washes over you and the breath slows. Vision is clear and complete. Can you stand up without falling down? Try. Fail. Rest. Try again. Success. We’re in the clear… back to earth.
Vid (not the set described):
[/quote]
You’re a poet.
Conventional Deads do suck.
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
[quote]grettiron wrote:
2/17
[/quote]
You’re a poet.
Conventional Deads do suck.[/quote]
Glad I’m not alone on that. Still gotta do 'em once in a while though.
2/21
warm up: lower usual
SSB squat - belt at 335
155,205,295x5, 335x3, 375x4x3, 375x1
DB walking lunge - DB weight, steps per side, no straps
BWx2x10, 55x10, 85x2x10
step ups
BWx2x10
Today was a disaster. Not enough sleep and too much coffee, not to mention my mid back was still wrecked from Thursday. Using the SSB today was not a great idea, in hindsight. I wanted to get it in because I will be at school next squat day and they of course don’t have a SSB. Bah! Really didn’t have the heart for much else and I just passed out for 45mins when I got home. Poor body. I will take it easy until I feel rested again (could be tomorrow, who knows).
2/22
warm up: mini band stuff, muscle snatch
hang clean & press
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x3
pullup - medium grip, funny bar (not straight bar)
BW,25,45x5, 70x3, 90x5x3
seated DB OHP - DB weight
45,55,65x6, 75x3x6, 65x2x10
HS DY row
superset
arm stuff
stretch
Today was much, much better. Amazing what a full night’s sleep and a full belly can do for your lifts. Clean and press was smooth and (dare I say) easy. Pullups were ok but it was the split grips you find on the cross beam of the cable machine… so the rubber kept rotating. DB pressing was awesome and actually hit the shoulders. Focused on the stretch and rebound with the DY rows. Good shit.
2/24
warm up: lower usual
sumo dl - belt at 475
225,315x5, 405x3, 455x1, 475x5x3
pin GM - belt at 365
135,225,315x10, 315,365,405,405x6
leg curl/extension
5 sets of 10
stretch
Deads felt hard but looked pretty good on video. I’m going to add in ab/adductor machine work as part of the warm-up again because they were complaining at 475. Also, ammonia. Pin GMs turned out to be a great idea! Hit the back hard but allowed me to reset the bar each rep so it didn’t slide down my back. Also felt safer because there was no chance of losing control and dropping a little too deep or something. Definitely going to be doing these again!
Vid (nevermind the peanut gallery lol):
2/25
warm up: mini band stuff, DB external rotations, traction
pin OHP - nose height
95,115,135x5, 155x3, 175x5x3
chinup
BWx8x10, BWx20
RG push press
95,115,135x10, 155x2x6, 135x15 (partial ROM, bottom half)
cable row
superset, 10 rep sets
cable flye/incline pushup
5 sets
reverse curl/lateral raise
3x10
stretch
Pressing was great, better than last week. Chinups were good. RG push press is still working out alright. Flyes/pushup superset hit the pecs hard which was pretty sweet. Not much to say about these days; they’re pretty dull.