Grettiron's Training Log

Training Training Logs
761

[quote]grettiron wrote:
fri 5/6

warm up: lower usual

SSB squat-to-box - reverse AVG bands where indicated
155,205,245x5, 335x3, (belt) 385x1, (AVG bands) 385,425x3, 475x1, (wraps) 475x3, 495x2, 515x2

sumo dl
245,335,425x10

leg cur/extension
3x10

stretch

Reverse band work was great today. Changed hand position and it seemed to keep my upper back much tighter. Still lost upper back tightness at 2nd rep at 515. Oh well, keep going. Deads were fast and easy, as they should have been.

Had a BOF try the reverse band setup. He says he wants to squat, but has bad knees, blah blah blah. I suspect the issue is ridiculously tight and inhibited hammys and just a general lack of leg development. Anyway, by the second set, every rep looked perfect and he didn’t have any crunchiness or pain. So 2-Scoops’ hypothesis seems to be accurate about the rev band setup teaching proper form very quickly.

Vid:

[/quote]

hahaha yea, score one for scoops! awesome, i’m glad to hear that.
squat vid- looks like you are doing a great job staying tight, just remember to lead with your head. have you done any free squatting to see the difference staying tight and touching the box makes?

762

[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
hahaha yea, score one for scoops! awesome, i’m glad to hear that.
squat vid- looks like you are doing a great job staying tight, just remember to lead with your head. have you done any free squatting to see the difference staying tight and touching the box makes?[/quote]

There will be some free squatting on Wednesday after deads. I’m curious to see if there will be a difference as well.

Might have to add “head back” to the list of cues I run thru just before squatting. My mid back is completely fried today, maybe due to that last rep. Suddenly it’s clear why you have such massive erectors lol

763

mon 5/9

warm up: lots of LAX ball rolling of rear delt/lat area, some traction, lots of cleans and snatches w/bar

clean and press - where 0.5 is clean only
95,115,135x5, 155,175,195x3, 205x2, 215x4x0.5, 185x9
pullup
BW,25,45x5, 70,90x3, 115x2x2, 90x7

DB bench
30,40,50x10, 60x3 (nope, this was going to lead to injury)
inverted row
superset

rope curls/extensions
4x10

more rolling and stretching

Made sure to get a PR at 205 before attempting 215 yet again. Reps at 185 for punishment. I think I’ll wait until I can hit 205x5 before attempting 215 again. Could be weak or just shitty technique.

So about my shoulders: there was the old pain (call it “old pain”). This was preventing me from benching seriously but had disappeared once I started using the light band to bench. The old pain was about to come back if I pushed the DB benching at all. Then there is the “new pain,” which is why I did so much myofascial work today… I think it’s coming from that rear delt/lat area and would prevent me from raising my arms above my head if left unattended. The rolling and stretching seemed to help a lot so I’ll probably do this every gym day until it goes away. Fix one thing only to reveal another I guess.

Also, take a breath between racking the clean and pressing. I tried to be clever the first rep at 195 and just rack and press without breathing. This was a Bad Idea as I pretty much instantly blacked out on pressing. Could have been pretty bad.

764

wed 5/11

warm up: back raise, decline situps, lunge, DB swing

conv dl - belt at 445
135,245,335x5, 445x1, (rev AVG bands) 445x3, 535x4x1

squat - deep again, no belt
135,225,315,315x10

zercher back raise/step up
3x10

stretch, and roll shoulders

Little beat up going into today… back, ankle, hip flexors were all a little too tight. Did alright though, not really pushing it (except the step ups, those are way too hard for a BW exercise). Managed to stay pretty tight on the last 3 535 pulls and keep decent spine position as well as not shooting the hips up. Squats were better than last time, technique-wise. Definitely getting some carryover in the movement pattern from the RB SSB squats.

I like the band-assisted training a lot. I think good things are going to come of it.

765

fri 5/14

warm up: cleans, snatches, presses, DB rotations, band traction, roll on medicine ball

bench - w/light band except last set
135,185,225x7, 255,275x5, 295x2, 315x1,1, 275x6, (band off) 185x10
cable row - medium neutral grip
superset

lateral raise/lying DB extensions/DB curls
4x10

stretch

Too much scotch on Thursday night… wasn’t feeling 100% for this session but gave it a shot. Benching was ok but felt a little heavy. Took the band off for the last set to see how it felt… and it felt awesome!! No pain, felt good, and I kept a good groove. I may start doing this more for the down sets.

766

Glad to hear pressing with the band is working as rehab!

767

[quote]grettiron wrote:
wed 5/11

warm up: back raise, decline situps, lunge, DB swing

conv dl - belt at 445
135,245,335x5, 445x1, (rev AVG bands) 445x3, 535x4x1

squat - deep again, no belt
135,225,315,315x10

zercher back raise/step up
3x10

stretch, and roll shoulders

Little beat up going into today… back, ankle, hip flexors were all a little too tight. Did alright though, not really pushing it (except the step ups, those are way too hard for a BW exercise). Managed to stay pretty tight on the last 3 535 pulls and keep decent spine position as well as not shooting the hips up. Squats were better than last time, technique-wise. Definitely getting some carryover in the movement pattern from the RB SSB squats.

I like the band-assisted training a lot. I think good things are going to come of it.[/quote]

also good to hear!

768

mon 5/16

warm up: back raise, decline situps, DB swing, band traction

squat - straight bar, belt at 405
135,225,315x5, 365x3, 405,455x1, (reverse AVG bands) 455,495x1, (wraps) 495,545x1, 585x0

SLDL
135x2x10, 185x2x10
step up
3x10

stretch

Tried the straight bar today to see how it’s going. Now I know what 2 SCOOPS means by “tight”… really big difference today. 455 was very smooth. 545 was also very smooth, see video. I’m a little disappointed that those wraps are only good for 10 or maybe 20 lbs over no wraps. Have some heavier elite ones coming (free shipping sale) so hopefully they will help. Took 585 for a ride just to see what would happen and damn that’s heavy. The bar felt like a wet noodle which doesn’t help… time to switch to the squat bar.

545x1:

585x0 (damn I’m small):

769

Thanks for the help Scoops and jakerz!

770

awesome! looks like shit is going pretty good. the tight thing made a difference i take it? and the box height looks like it’s right below parallel? have you tried putting a plate on that box to make it just a little higher? so when is the next time you are doing straight bar, straight weight and no box? and i think i’ll use an old average doubled band for my “slingshot” on my bench for my down week, i’ll keep you posted on how that goes lol.

771

[quote]grettiron wrote:
Thanks for the help Scoops and jakerz![/quote]
Glad to do it. Your spotters in that last video do kind of dwarf you a bit.

772

[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
awesome! looks like shit is going pretty good. the tight thing made a difference i take it? and the box height looks like it’s right below parallel? have you tried putting a plate on that box to make it just a little higher? so when is the next time you are doing straight bar, straight weight and no box? and i think i’ll use an old average doubled band for my “slingshot” on my bench for my down week, i’ll keep you posted on how that goes lol.[/quote]

Huge difference! I can try moving the box up one more pin… you think that will help? I’ll probably try straight bar, straight weight, no box in a month or so.

I’ll try the average band too… could be fun.

773

Today was a pretty terrible training day. No clean and press because my hand slipped on a knife this afternoon and cut my thumb pretty badly. Tried just military pressing out of the rack but my right shoulder was acting up something fierce. Just felt really uncomfortable and had no power at about forehead height. And by uncomfortable I mean it hurt. Sharp pains through the back and top of the joint. Really, really frustrating. Called it quits on the lifting and just did all sorts of band traction and rolling on the LAX ball for an hour or so. I think it has something to do with traps, lats, rhomboids because there are a shit ton of knots back there. Might have to make my second upper day a rehab day for a while. I really wish I wasn’t a poor fucking student so I could pay for some PT or ART. Pretty sure the bloodsucking health insurance I have won’t cover shit. Bastards.

Did hit 115x3 in the pullups though. That might be a PR.

774

[quote]grettiron wrote:

[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
awesome! looks like shit is going pretty good. the tight thing made a difference i take it? and the box height looks like it’s right below parallel? have you tried putting a plate on that box to make it just a little higher? so when is the next time you are doing straight bar, straight weight and no box? and i think i’ll use an old average doubled band for my “slingshot” on my bench for my down week, i’ll keep you posted on how that goes lol.[/quote]

Huge difference! I can try moving the box up one more pin… you think that will help? I’ll probably try straight bar, straight weight, no box in a month or so.

I’ll try the average band too… could be fun.[/quote]

lol good to hear. ummm i think it will, you’ll be surprised how much one pin up could make, i think it’ll help get you use to moving more weight and since it won’t be that much higher you’ll retain your feeling for depth. so i just messed around with my old average band today and just put it around my arms and mimmicked benching and i think it’s gonna be real fun, i’m looking forward to it!

775

[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:

[quote]grettiron wrote:

[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
awesome! looks like shit is going pretty good. the tight thing made a difference i take it? and the box height looks like it’s right below parallel? have you tried putting a plate on that box to make it just a little higher? so when is the next time you are doing straight bar, straight weight and no box? and i think i’ll use an old average doubled band for my “slingshot” on my bench for my down week, i’ll keep you posted on how that goes lol.[/quote]

Huge difference! I can try moving the box up one more pin… you think that will help? I’ll probably try straight bar, straight weight, no box in a month or so.

I’ll try the average band too… could be fun.[/quote]

lol good to hear. ummm i think it will, you’ll be surprised how much one pin up could make, i think it’ll help get you use to moving more weight and since it won’t be that much higher you’ll retain your feeling for depth. so i just messed around with my old average band today and just put it around my arms and mimmicked benching and i think it’s gonna be real fun, i’m looking forward to it![/quote]

Worth a try! It occurred to me today that my squat is higher than my conventional deadlift. I don’t think I can live with that :\

776

fri 5/20

warm up: back raise, decline situps, SLDL 135x2x10

conv deads - belt at 405
225,315x5, 405x3, 455x2, (reverse AVG band), 455,495x3, 545x1, 565x0, 495x3

front squat
135,185x6, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1, (holds) 315x3x15 seconds or so

stretchhhhh

Conventional pulling is so demoralizing. 455x2 is good for me though. First rep was smooth, second rep was pretty ugly. I think I start the pull too early, that is, before the bar is over the mid-foot. This makes the hips rise too fast and shit happens. I start with the bar over mid-foot and then get big air and pull myself into position, but that only gets me like 5 seconds before I feel like passing out. Guess I could try to just rip it up… might not actually pass out. Blahhhhhhh. Might do straight weight sumo pulls next time, see if there’s any carryover. Rack is too narrow to do reverse band sumo, plus I’m weak right off the floor.

Front squat was alright, just wanted to see if I could still hit 315. It was pretty smooth actually… stayed nice and tight and upper back caved only a little. Front squat holds were fucking tough and I will probably do these after every fr sq sesh.

777

[quote]grettiron wrote:
Today was a pretty terrible training day. No clean and press because my hand slipped on a knife this afternoon and cut my thumb pretty badly. Tried just military pressing out of the rack but my right shoulder was acting up something fierce. Just felt really uncomfortable and had no power at about forehead height. And by uncomfortable I mean it hurt. Sharp pains through the back and top of the joint. Really, really frustrating. Called it quits on the lifting and just did all sorts of band traction and rolling on the LAX ball for an hour or so. I think it has something to do with traps, lats, rhomboids because there are a shit ton of knots back there. Might have to make my second upper day a rehab day for a while. I really wish I wasn’t a poor fucking student so I could pay for some PT or ART. Pretty sure the bloodsucking health insurance I have won’t cover shit. Bastards.

Did hit 115x3 in the pullups though. That might be a PR.[/quote]
Have you ever tried doing some soft tissue work all around your shoulders with a lacrosse ball?
There’s some good stuff on this site: http://www.mobilitywod.com/
Makes the shoulders happier… after the pain comes…

778

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:

[quote]grettiron wrote:
Today was a pretty terrible training day. No clean and press because my hand slipped on a knife this afternoon and cut my thumb pretty badly. Tried just military pressing out of the rack but my right shoulder was acting up something fierce. Just felt really uncomfortable and had no power at about forehead height. And by uncomfortable I mean it hurt. Sharp pains through the back and top of the joint. Really, really frustrating. Called it quits on the lifting and just did all sorts of band traction and rolling on the LAX ball for an hour or so. I think it has something to do with traps, lats, rhomboids because there are a shit ton of knots back there. Might have to make my second upper day a rehab day for a while. I really wish I wasn’t a poor fucking student so I could pay for some PT or ART. Pretty sure the bloodsucking health insurance I have won’t cover shit. Bastards.

Did hit 115x3 in the pullups though. That might be a PR.[/quote]
Have you ever tried doing some soft tissue work all around your shoulders with a lacrosse ball?
There’s some good stuff on this site: http://www.mobilitywod.com/
Makes the shoulders happier… after the pain comes…[/quote]

Yeah but it’s been sporadic in the past, mostly because I don’t have a decent wall to use. Using an incline bench at the gym works very well though. My plan is to work on the upper back every lifting day until it loosens up. My right trap is part of the problem as well as some of the muscles surrounding the scapula (more towards the inside bottom edge). It does hurt like crazy when you hit a trigger point, but I felt a couple huge knots let go today so it’s worth it.

779

mon 5/23 - and so begins the second week of rain and fog, every day.

warm up: LAX ball work on the back

bench
(LT band) 135x20, 185x10, 225x6, 275x3, (AVG band) 275x5, 315x3, 335x2x1, (raw) 225x6
HS DY row
superset

camber bar shrug
225,315,405,495,495x10
lateral raise
superset

arm stuff

more trigger point work, AVG band traction

Decent day today. AVG band didn’t give me as much as I thought it would compared to the light band, though it did force me to get really f-ing tight. Guess that means the top end of the stroke is the limiter at the moment. Down set at 225 was ok but I was pretty gassed by then. Shrugs felt really really good on the traps and mid back.

Found a trigger point around the scaps that sets off the same pain in my shoulders that I got overhead pressing the other day… felt like a cord was pulling on the AC joint when I sat on the trigger point for a while. It let up a little but it’s gonna need more work.

780

wed 2/25

warm up: decline situps, back raise, sldl

SSB squat - forgot to put it higher so same height, belt at 385
155,205x10, 245,295x5, 335,385x3, 425x1, (rev AVG bands) 425x3, 475x2,1, (belt off) 385x5

SLDL - belt at 315
135,185,225,275,315x10

couple sets curls/extensions
stretch a little

Today was ok lifting wise but shitty in all other ways. Spent most of the day in the ER waiting for stitches for my finger which I cut pretty severely with a knife (accidentally). No wrapped squats obviously. SLDL used a strap on the bad hand. Almost no feeling in my fingertip. 475x2 is pretty good for me with no wraps tho so can’t complain too much.