So I decided that the most sensible thing to do after almost a week of military pressing every day was some boxing. After all it’s such a shoulder friendly sport…
I managed to get a little ache near my right AC joint. Actually felt like it was in the muscle or joint capsule which is good. It went away after I stopped boxing.
Also I’ll be waking up at 6:00 tomorrow morning so I won’t be able to recover very well.
Because of both of those things I won’t train tonight. Oh well, it was almost a full week of pressing. Still worked really well.
(speaking of boxing, I’m slow as hell slipping punches and stuff. interesting to see what I can do about that.)
indeed, sometimes you just have to go nuts
That’s the truth man.
I’m back at my nice college gym. I gotta re-condition myself to all the fuckheads here though…
ATG squat - ramp up to 275 for 1. I had much more in me but I was too uncoordinated. Going onto my toes, twisting/tilting, losing my upper back arch and knees out position. It’ll come back fast… I did 225 for a few reps focusing on form, then some with just the bar. My right ankle (the one I broke a few years back) likes to get stiff and keeps me from shoving that knee out.
Chest supported row (quite horizontal compared to most machines like it) - outer handles - a bunch of triples with 2 plates and short rests. then I rested pretty long and hit 5 plus a half rep which I held for a while.
Overhead rope extensions like this: EliteFTS.com: Troponin -Overhead Rope Extensions - YouTube (Hands together) ~5 sets of ~5 with 120. Then a high rep set with 80 (not to failure)
Face pulls - stack for 2 sets of high-ish reps. Didn’t go to failure but I did hold the last rep for ~20 seconds.
My right VMO is cramping a bit. Odd.
Very low volume, but I didn’t eat enough today. First day of classes and all that. I’ll get my squat and press every day thing going soon. See how that works.
Oh shit, I forgot to tell you. I got a nasty schedule this semester and I can’t fit it in. Next year should be better. I’m gonna keep training for it though, to be ready next year.
Took some progress pictures. Everything’s relaxed as always.
Front. I’m unhappy about this one as I look exactly the same as last time. At least I haven’t gained any fat.
Back. I’m very happy about this one.
Full comparison. (high res)
Tuesday -
Bulgarian split squats - a few easy triples with the 68’s. I wanted to try these out. They seem a little too unstable for my taste.
Incline press (a bit less than 45 deg) 135 for a bunch of easy triples. Getting the feel. The hooks are really awkward on this bench for my short arms. I wish there was an alternative to these.
Incline dumbbell press - 53’s for a bunch of reps. Just trying to get a pump in my upper chest. Working on feeling it.
Not very intense or long. Trying to hold back a little for a bit. I should be back in force tomorrow.
My triceps, brachialis (??), traps, and quads have been sore all day. Pathetic.
I’m getting leaner. Especially my quads. supposedly lower estrogen. My triceps also seem to be leaner which is supposed to be a symptom of higher test. Both of those are cool, though I’d prefer not to be getting leaner… Gotta step up the eating. My upper chest is slightly sore. Good. My triceps are still sore as hell. Probably cause of the stretch involved in overhead rope extensions. Good stuff.
Wednesday: OHP - 140 for a few long rest singles. (My weights always go down a tad when I move from my home setup to my college gym cause I’m using a 5 foot bar at home and a full size bar at the gym. It’s slightly more unstable until I get used to it again.)
Dumbbell snatch - up to 68 I think. Super easy bu they closed the gym before I could go higher.
So, box jumps outside (the wall behind the loading dock at the bottom of the steps, also got the loading dock too.) I did a few with a minute or two in between each.
I gotta step it the fuck up. way more volume, way more weight. Getting to the gym well before they close would be a good idea…
Thursday -
High bar squat (~2 inches above ATG. My ankles and such still need a little more mobility to get me comfortable ATG again) ramp up to a not-too-hard single at 285. Getting my coordination back nicely.
High bar from parallel pins - ~5 longish rest singles at 275.
Hang snatch - ramp (with lots of small steps) to a single at 125. Missed 130 a few times. It goes up very quickly, I can’t overhead squat it though.
Leg curl (yeah, yeah, I know… My deadlift’s weak off the floor and I think these’ll help.) - ~8 sets of 3 with pretty slow negatives at 120. (toes up going up, toes down on the negative)
Face pull - stack x ~10, stack plus 25 for two sets of 10-15. Ended the last one with a hold close to failure.
I’m back in the saddle again. Awesome. (though a little more volume and fewer lifts would probably have done me more good.)
(One issue. I was sweating pretty heavily and I’ve only had one meal all day, but my weight right after training was 150…)
Friday: fuckers closed the gym at 3:00 today with no warning at all. I wasn’t able to train. And there’s too much snow on the ground for me to go lift rocks or anything. Fucks sakes.
Saturday:
Deadlift up to a pretty easy mixed grip 315. And then I barely missed 335 (with straps)… WTF, DL.
then 225 DOH with no straps for ~10 reps with a few grip resets.
Neutral grip chins ramp to a few triples with 1 plate. And my right collarbone pain started up again. So I stopped. Fuck.
Preacher curls 20 lb ps for a few sets.
Meh.
I had an idea. I’m weak off the floor. The type of straps I use are very thick. They add at least a quarter of an inch, maybe even half an inch of a “deficit” And I’ve found in the past that I feel weaker with straps. Now that I think about it, I believe that the deficit that they, in effect create is the reason. Second, hitting 315 with mixed grip opened my eyes a bit. I think a lot of my grip problems are in my head. I think I could pull mixed grip with no problem and get rid of the straps deficit issue. Next deadlift day, I’m gonna just do a bunch of singles at 315, mixed grip. Alternating which hand is under, of course. (By the way, unfortunately this is all chalkless. I don’t have any grip trouble at all with chalk.)
Pullup shoulder mwod: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/04/episode-231365-pull-up-shoulder-clonking-fix-and-better-hip-folding-for-toes-to-bargood-mornings.html
(along with stretching pec minor)
Monday:
ATG high bar squat singles - 285, then 285 to an inch or two below parallel, then 275 ATG. mid-range rests.
OHP from pins - 125 for a few singles. Couldn’t quite get 135.
Dumbbell rows - a few triples at 140 (some reps held at the top for a bit), a few reps at 103 squeezing the lats and shoulder blades
Unilateral farmers walk hold (I only have one dumbbell handle and their dumbbells only go up to 103…) - no straps - 10 seconds at 130 twice with each arm.
Reverse cable crossover - 50 for a bunch of reps, 60 for a bunch of reps with a hold at the end. This actually kinda hurt my shoulders. Which is definitely an issue. I gotta get my mwod on.
Very little food in me, so I wasn’t too good at driving through sticking points and at handling volume. Whatever, it was good.
Monday session 2 (night):
OHP - a few rather long rest singles at 140. Near the end they got a little dodgy with maybe just a bit of leg drive.
Power Clean and jerk up to 155 (nowhere near limit but I was using iron plates in a crowded gym so I figured I’d stop…) I pressed 155 out too. Jerking is hard.
Reverse cable curls - 2 sets at 40.
Band pullaparts - a few reps very slow, feeling all the little muscles contracting.
Tuesday:
Full dips (as low as I could get with good shoulder mechanics, chin pretty much to level of bars) - ~8 short rest triples with 45 plus 25. I’ve always stopped at parallel so that last bit of ROM is killer. Big stretch too.
Deadlift - ramp up to a miss at 315 which felt relatively easy of course but my grip lost it. My hands were sweaty as hell and I did train my grip yesterday. I didn’t have time for any more. I may come back tonight and do some good mornings or something. If I remember I’ll film them.
Tuesday session 2 (night):
Good morning from pins (a good deal deeper than in the past) - up to 275, though it was more of a shitty PL squat than anything. (though it hit my hamstrings and low back hard so at least it did its job) did quite a few good singles at 245 and 255.
Seated good mornings from pins - up to a bunch of singles at 225, and one at 235.
Leg curl - 3 sets of 5 at 120.
PJR pullover - 73 (I think) for a few sets of 10 or so.
My left biceps/upper forearm/elbow isn’t feeling too nice. I did some high rep, very slow, light hammer curls which made it feel a bit better.
Here’s a 225 seated good morning. (skip to 1:00 for the lift, some clueless fuck moved the thing my camera was very clearly on…)
Chest supported rows ramp to 2 sets of 4 reps holding the last rep of each set for ~10 seconds. (while I was waiting for the rack)
Incline press from pins an inch or two off my chest. ramped up with short rest singles and a whole lot of volume to 160. Did a bunch of reps there but missed 165. (Upper pecs must be really freakin fast twitch. The speed of those near max singles was pretty ridiculous. Cool stuff.) I’m getting more used to incline and I kinda like it. The incline bench at my gym is really wacky so pressing from the pins was a pretty cool change.
Dumbbell incline press - short rests, lots of reps, up to the 58’s. Getting them in position was a fun time…
My left elbow/biceps/forearm still wants to get touchy but light slow hammer curls make it manageable. Rolling my distal triceps on the bar also really helped. I haven’t rolled in a while so I gotta get on that.
Good session!
Thursday:
DB rows (with straps…) - ~6 triples at 145. Finished with ~10 reps at 103 squeezing at the top each rep.
Narrow handle pulldown - a bunch of sets of 7 working up to 180 where I got 6 reps and held the last one for ~20 seconds. Good stretch.
One arm low cable rows squeezing lower lats (turn arm from overhand to under) - worked up with a bunch of sets of ~10 to 2 sets at 120. Held the last one for ~10 seconds. These were AWESOME.
Then I tried to do some LYTP’s but I was about to throw up so I left.