.
Ddot, yeah, I’m hoping that’s the problem, once I get going with upper body, I can’t seem to stop. Guess I should start a session with OH and see how that goes.
Brett, thanks. God no, it’s not Sheiko, that calls for 3 or 4 rep sets. My schedule is so scrambled I can’t go on a program, just working in some relatively hi rep stuff for a change. Seems to be doing some good.
I’m much in the same boat as you, looking to move, new job. To get you up to date, looks like I have a job in a nearby (>200 mi) city, no actual offer yet, filling out paperwork, but it doesn’t pay spit, so have to find something else fast. Now just got a message from a recruiter who has a nice paying job down in South Carolina, heaven only knows if the client will look at me . . . and the unemployment benefits won’t last forever . . . the stress is just wrecking me.
Bulldog, hey thanks! Man, that looks tasty. Don’t know if chicken soup will cure unemployment, but you never know. One of the very few good things about staying at home, I haven’t got the bug mingling with people.
Driving all day tomorrow to deliver paperwork and meet a recruiter who might, just might, be able to get me something.
Agree on doing bench and dips before your OH work. That’s pretty tough and especially if you set a rep PR before doing that.
Best of luck with the recruiter!
james
James, thanks.
Stressful. I think the unemployment benefits might keep coming if the new job pays so little, must check. OK, got official offer from the school, unless I find something paying better, I’m committed.
Stress and erratic eating, workout was weird:
Treadmill warmup
Deadlift
155 x 14 . OMG, this was a killer - shouldn’t have been
185 x 10 . almost passed out
225 x 8 . might have been 235, was working in with another guy and using different set of weights
Ugh. Gasping, groaning, semi-screaming . . . it was HUMILIATING. BIG TIME.
Chinup, parallel grip
x 3 . x 3 . x 3 . x 3
Arm Curl
45 x 15
55 x 12
85 x 6 . x 6
chatted with another guy who was also having a bad day. I got so angry at the deads being so difficult that I had to give them another go, had to prove I could handle it without tearing myself to pieces. Loaded up the bar, calmed, calmed, tried to imagine it easy:
225 x 10
no screaming. just smooth up and down. breathed hard and that was that. God I hate being a Jekyll and Hyde.
GM
115 x 8
135 x 8 . x 8
peace and serenity win the day
Hey Cav, have you ever looked at what causes you to fail and/or struggle at lifts?
Earlier this week you posted that you were pretty frustrated at your OHP but didn’t recognize you had done a lot more pressing in comparison to your previous session(of which you were comparing the current session to).
Looking at your latest session, do you think maybe the struggles came from the amount of reps you did leading up to the 225 x 8??? Seems as soon as you back off (in that session) you were able to focus and hammer out 225 x 10 without the struggles (and the noises that come with).
From reading your log you’re VERY focused on Progression but your lifting sessions aren’t setup to give you a true measure of progression.
Just my $.02. Feel free to tell me where to stick it.
Hi, Kent, thanks for dropping by!
Ddot, always looking at my workouts to see what’s going on. True, had problems with OH, and it did occur to me that I had just done a lot of pressing, but trying to incorporate as much as OH as I can cuz I’ve always sucked at it. Plus, it wasn’t a very enjoyable pressing session, so emotion was pretty much swamping reason and not thinking clearly.
Regarding the deadlifts, the problem started with the very first warmup set. That was so painful and difficult that it was clear that the problem wasn’t hi reps, it was something else. I blame the stress I’ve been under. After chatting with the other guy and calming down, the last set was a piece of cake, so I’m sure the stress was the problem.
I’ve had this godddamn shit all my life. Starting with PE in school, even the warmup exercises were so difficult I had to strain to do. Going on a hike in Boy Scouts, so hard to keep up with the other boys, had to push, struggle, grimace, grunt, etc. It makes me feel weak and I just hate that.
It’s amazing that other guys can walk into a gym, pick up the weights, and grow and grow almost without any effort at all. That’s my goal - to be a strong man, put effort into the lifts, and do the big weights without the PAIN.
Was 155 your DL warmup set?
[quote]cavalier wrote:
That’s my goal - to be a strong man, put effort into the lifts, and do the big weights without the PAIN.[/quote]
Can you define what this means?
Do you want to have a huge 1RM? Do you want to be able to do lots of reps at a reasonable weight?
I think these things are not necessarily “linked”.
I would say I can pull more reasonable weight for reps than having a huge 1RM. I know guys who can bench 225 for 30+ reps but whose 1RM is somewhere north of 300. I know a guy who’s benched 445 who struggles for 12 @ 225.
As for the stress, the minute I walk into the gym all my stress is gone (my failed marriage, my career turmoil, money issues, etc). GONE. Your lifting should be stress relief. A challenge against yourself each and every session. Sure, much like everyone else here, there will be days when you fail, but it’s not about how many times you fail; it’s about how many times you get up.
I’ll be honest and say that you seem pretty down on yourself. Henry Ford said “If you think you can or can’t, you’re right”.
I just hate to see someone who seems so interested in lifting not enjoying it.
Git - yes, 155 is my DL warmup. I normally knock out quite a few without trouble.
Ddot - I’m doing the semi-hi rep stuff to build strength. I intend to enter more powerlifting meets, not expecting to set world records, but to focus my efforts. I’m struggling to get ANYTHING up - 1 RM max, 10 rep weight, muscle mass, whatever. I had no athletic career in school, or as a young man, or anything. I’ve missed out on so much, and really want more out of life.
Got some good news. Will keep getting the unemployment benefits, the job doesn’t pay enough to end them.
Ate like crazy yesterday and got a LOT of sleep. Feel way better. Went to the gym for squats:
95 x 12
135 x 12
144 x 9
165 x 8 . x 8 . think this is a PR for reps
no retching or screaming, concentrated hard and it went smoothly.
Leg Ext
8 x 15
11 x 11
13 x 9
14 x 8 . x 8
which was about 3/4 of the weight stack, yay
Extreme Sumo DL
95 x 12
145 x 12
165 x 12
this is so weird. It’s just supposed to be assistance for squats, for the low position, yet keep getting stronger and stronger. It’s starting to get up into regular DL weight levels.
A great workout, no crying or anything.
Nice work Cav! tons of reps! My rep strength is shit right now, gotta change that soon.
Good lifting Cav, nothing to do but keep pushing it.
Matty, thanks. I’d say NOTHING about you, strengthwise, is shit. The point of doing this rep stuff is to build strength and get my max rep up. Will be increasing weight and decreasing reps to see if that happens. If the estimates are right, I should be able to DL 340, squat 240, and bench 185. We’ll see.
Joe, thanks very much. I look at your numbers and aiming for them. Did I ask where you get pirate outfits?
Bench day, which means it was painful and strenuous:
95 x 14
115 x 11
135 x 9
140 x 5 . x 5
the last 2 sets were near failure, God I just push so fucking HARD, the bar barely got up, I know I deserve better than that
Rear delt machine
50 x 15
80 x 12
100 x 8
DB Press . rarely do these, but hoping they will help bench
30 x 20
40 x 15
50 x 10
grunted loudly on the last one, didn’t mean to since the gym was full, but I just PUSH IT
Dips
x 5 . x 5 . x 6 . x 5
you just can’t believe how impossible these were, took every scrap of willpower to make the arms bend up
Pushups
x 10 . x 7 . x 7 . x 7
hit failure on these
Way to do work Cav! Good Job!
Colin, thanks. I sent you a PM.
Last night stopped by the apartment fitness center for some elliptical work. Did some, but played around with the machine, whatever you call it, bench/pulldown/leg x all in one. did some tri pulldowns, then bicep rows. Then did some more. And some more. Lost count, had loads of fun. Got really pumped. Finally put on my coat to leave, and guess what, the sleeves barely fit around my arms. Really tight. That never happened before. Whee, it’s fun to be swole!
Today, tried some more semi hi rep deads:
135 x 12
185 x 11
235 x 7 . x 7 . x 7
Tough, but no screaming, so that’s good.
Seated calf
70 x 15
90 x 12
115 x 8 . x 10 . x 10 . x 10
been a long while since worked calves, should do more often
Seat Row
70 x 15
100 x 15
130 x 10 . x 10
getting a little stronger on this one
Pulldown
70 x 20
100 x 14
120 x 9 . x 8 . x 10
getting a bit stronger
Pretty good workout, but did some stretching. WHAM!! Pulled something in my left side, can barely move. Gotta look into that. Weird!!
Solid work here Cav, hope to see that slow progression to lower reps and then some PR’s are gonna fall.
Dude, thanks. I plan on going to lower reps next week and seeing where I am. According to the formulae, my lifts should all be a bit higher . . . we’ll see.
Still pretty beat up. Looks like a week, or at least a few days, of deload. It was about time for one anyway. Looks like a week in the apartment fitness center doing elliptical. And maybe some arm work on the machine. And hold the phone, the machine has a pec movement and I really could use stronger pecs . . .
Somebody stop me! I’m going to turn a deload into balls to the walls!
Staffing recruiter had me take an online test today to see if I qualify for any web develop or Flash jobs. Nasty thing . . . the pages are timed, must complete each question within 3 minutes each or BZZZZZT wrong answer. And they’re tough questions. I’m proud to announce I scored “Proficient” on both tests.
Hey Cav, I love how the guys are all here making some really good points.
Id suck out doing bench before my OHP…
I hope you are able to take a good look at how far you have come, soak it in.