I feel tension through the entire range of motion on the bayesian curl, especially in the stretched position. But I mostly rotated these in because I’ve done incline DB curls for years, and it seemed like I got stale on the movement (more trouble getting a pump and less soreness after the session).
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3/18
Deadlifts this morning after a really crummy night of sleep (more on that later). I rushed through my already minimal warmup and irritated an old tweak in my right QL on my top set of 465x4. My glutes weren’t firing like they should’ve been, and if I’d just taken a few more minutes to do some activation I suspect this wouldn’t have happened. I went ahead with 420 for 8 on the backoff, then power shrugs because they’re cool and I’m sick of the neck harness. I did my barbell rows floating with a little English and a lot of eccentric control, which were inspired by @throwawayfitness; felt the shit out of these in all the right places. Nearly choked myself out on front squats and finished with some cautiously loaded SLDLs. Also making an appearance: token forearm work, token calf raises, dedicated Jefferson curls (which I never should’ve taken out of the rotation), hanging leg raises, the dumbbell I was using for the hanging leg raises completely shattering my phone, and three college-aged females wearing the exact same tights and Chucks High Tops as me.
Those Jefferson curls helped loosen up my QL. I miss the reverse hyper from my old powerlifting gym, but I’m training at Anytime Fitness in the meantime to squirrel away cash for an anticipated move–and to realize I dress like a Kappa Delta pledge, apparently.
Re: sleep: I’ve always struggled with insomnia, in spite of insanely attentive supplementation and sleep hygiene. Even with blue light blocking glasses, Himalayan salt lamps, Trazodone, melatonin, GABA, MK-677, 5HTP, zinc, magnesium threonate, and ashwaganda, a restful night is hit-or-miss for me. Last night’s tossing was compounded by a bout of manic creativity. I’ve just finished another novel that I’m in the process of querying, and while I wait for agents to get back I’m putting together a Youtube channel about strength sports history. My first video covers Doug Hepburn, quite possibly the strongest club-footed Canadian to ever limp this bleak earth. I have the audio edited how I want it, but learning the film editing software has entailed a lot of missteps and resets. I’d like to have it out by the end of this week. I’ve already got a script going for my next video on Arthur Saxon, who popularized the bent press. My vision is to cover personalities as much as programming, documenting these figures’ oddly consistent idiosyncrasies. I also want to delve into the lore behind lifts and strongman events like the Húsafell stones. All that to say that I forwent tossing to edit for a couple of hours last night, and absolutely felt it this morning. I try not to spend too long in bed if I’m not drifting back off; I’ll usually go into the living room and read until I’m drowsy. It helps to reset, if that makes sense, but last night’s reset went on for far too long and left me too alert to fall back asleep. Add that to the costs of an artistic temperament, along with starting your first and only deadlift warmup at 405. I’m going to keep an eye on the QL, but don’t expect it to disrupt regularly scheduled programming.
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How long are you away from screens and social media before going to bed?
Do you have a routine wake time?
Do you train morning or evening/Can you train in the morning instead?
Do you have large meals shortly before bed?
Do you have a bedtime routine?
I’m writing this during one of my typical bouts of nighttime restlessness, but my computer has f.lux (a blue light filter) installed on the warmest setting.
I always fall asleep quickly and get my best rest in the first three to four hours of the night; my issue is waking and being unable to fall back asleep. I have my last meal an hour before bed, and put the phone and laptop away before eating. The bedroom stays at 63 degrees. My fiancee likes watching TV together in the living room to wind down (not my first choice, or even my third choice). I wear heavy-duty blue light blocking glasses for this. I always get morning sunlight (perks of living in Tallahassee) and have a SAD lamp in case it’s rainy. I train between 8 and 10 a.m.
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All of this sounds pretty solid, sans the TV (it is what it is).
From my understanding, it used to be common for people to sleep a few hours, wake and eat/read/family time, then go back to sleep. It sounds like this might be more in line with your sleep patterns - have you ever considered doing something like this?
I’m hypersomniac/sleep apnea/borderline narcoleptic so my problems are very different from yours, but I’ve read a lot about sleep health in pursuit of optimizing my own shitty sleep habits.
If you have the means, the 8 sleep mattress cover is pretty amazing, I have one. This might help you as well, as it adjusts to your sleep patterns in attempts to optimize them via temperature changes.
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Thanks for your perspective. I’d happily trade our problems, but the grass is always greener–and a great place to nap if a Jigglypuff is hiding in it. I’d love to splurge on an 8 Sleep once we’re in a more financially stable place.
I think there’s something to giving into my natural rhythm; I guess I’ve been giving that a go here for the past couple of nights. I really try not to stay in bed for too long if I can tell I’m not drifting off, and I love/look forward to reading anyway.
My parents both have the same sleep pattern, and I think some of my childhood habits reinforced it back when I had a more susceptible and plastic brain.
UNSOLICITED STORY TIME
I grew up as an overly serious distance runner and triathlete, waking up at 4:30 to get in my morning training. I’d regularly be dreading the effort required to complete the session, which meant I’d have trouble falling back asleep in the wee hours when I inevitably woke up to pee. I’d often go ahead and get up at 3 a.m. to get the workout over with. I didn’t have the self-awareness to recognize it then, but I actually hated endurance sports; I just did them because I was naturally good at them and had a desperate need to not suck at something. I graduated high school with D1 offers in XC, but I’d burnt myself out by then and realized I had an appendage other than my legs that was worth my attention. I got into powerlifting and bloat-maxing, force-feeding my way from 120 pounds to 226 between my freshman and junior year. (Shouts out to Keisha from the UNC Student Union Wendy’s, which was conveniently located across the street from the campus recreation center. I put back so many Asiago Ranch sandwiches and large bowls of chili that I still get reflux when I see them.) I loved strength training, but my dietary philosophy didn’t help my appendage get too much attention. I got pretty damned lean as a college senior and spent most of my twenties maingaining my way into muscular mediocrity, dumping way too much attention into “optimal” “science-based” technique. When the gyms closed in 2020, I was glad for the break from worrying about whether I should distribute delt volume over four or five days to hit my 26.7-set weekly MRV. I got back into triathlons during lockdown, lost a fuckton of weight, and spent a couple of years doing Ironmans and ultramarathons before finding my way back to strength training.
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Another crummy night of sleep. I’ve had a buttload of bother with Manuscript Clearance office nitpicking the formatting of my dissertation, which already passed defense with my committee—the graduate school just wants to micromanage the spacing of your headings and the number of ellipses in your table of contents so they can sell your intellectual property to ProQuest. Truly disgusting. Upsides: masked my exhaustion pretty well to interview for a professorship in my home state, and should have the editing for my Doug Hepburn video wrapped up by the end of today.
Anyhow, paused pressing this morning. I hit a primer OHP single with 205, then 3x8 at 155. 225 for 8, 7, 7 on Larsen press, then a debilitating delt pump from deficit pushups. My chest was failing first, but all the blood seemed to be pooling in my shoulders; I’ll take that over the lower back any day.
QL is talking to me, but not too loudly. I’ll warm up slowly and see how things go on squats tomorrow. If the twinges persist, I’ll reset my training cycle and rack up comfortable volume starting at 65%, gradually adding weight until I’m performing working sets of 4-6 at 85%. I don’t follow a fixed rep scheme; I just work until I’ve got 2-3 RIR on squats and deads, or 1-2 RIR on my pressing, trying to beat my volume PR at that weight from the previous cycle. It’s freeing not to be beholden to a competition date; I can always step back and wait to max out until I’m ready.
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Maybe I missed it earlier in your log, but what are you studying?
I’m graduating from FSU with an English Ph.D. this spring (really creative writing). I’ve already got the MFA from UC-Irvine.
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My first Strength Stories video is finally live: https://youtu.be/8Xt59OcDhyA
I’m a dummy with editing, and couldn’t figure out how to get the image size to fill the Youtube screen; otherwise, I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll be recording the next episode this weekend.
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Id give you a gator clap but theres no emoji for that.
The crocodile emoji will have to do
Thank you! I wish we were mascotted by gators, but they actually belong to the University of Florida down in Gainesville. I have less school spirit than a Hogwarts exorcist.
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Sleep was shit again; maybe just assume that from here on out unless I say otherwise. I usually don’t have more than two bad nights before the sleep debt catches up and I can crash successfully, but I’ve got a lot of uncertainty in my life right now, and I think the ambient stress is contributing to my insomnia.
Squats today. Zero issues with the QL, which was a huge relief. I just replaced my poverty Adidas Powerlifts with the TYR whatevers, and they’re fantastic. Firmer connection to the ground and a slightly higher heel that lets me stay really upright and drive out of the hole with my quads. Sticky primer single at 425, then 3x5 at 385. I still feel like my glutes aren’t firing. I might have to perpetuate my inner sorority girl and spend some time on the Booty Blaster.
Back work consisted of snatch grip high pulls, DB rows, and dumbbell shrugs. I’m throwing in the high pulls and shrugs because I need some variation from the neck harness and these movements are actually fun. Checked off my regular calf work, forearm work, hammer curls, and cable crunches between squats, then seated hamstring curls. I’m considering bumping SLDLs to my squat days, but I worry that I won’t recover in time for deadlifts; the tradeoff is that I can’t load them as well after deadlifting.
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3/21
Slept a little better last night. The difference between four hours and seven is pretty significant (what she said, but in different units).
Bench today. 5 lb PR of 305 on my primer single, though the pause felt a lot longer than it looked:
315 SOON, GODDAMNIT
Working sets with 235, followed by some crunchy BTNP and standard accessories. I came into this session with my shoulders still sore from the deficit pushups and OHP.
Just finished recording the second episode for my Youtube channel, and I’ll spend this afternoon blowing off grading to edit the thing. I refuse to upload until I’ve figured out how to actually fit the damned images to the Youtube screen.
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3/23
Sleep seems to be on an upward trend, thank goodness. I think I successfully secured the sympathy of my fiancée; she’s been very diligent about “depleting” me.
Deadlifts today. I did a good chunk of my assistance work first because I wanted my back and glutes to be warm before pulling: barbell rows, hanging leg raises, calf raises for ankle mobility, SGHP, and paused front squats. I felt my QL again warming up, so I decided to leave a couple of extra reps in the tank on my work sets. This was a good strategy, and let me push the RDLs harder than I’ve been able to lately. I hit 2x4 with 435, which was far enough from failure that I could consciously focus on contracting my glutes and hamstrings. RDLs for 2x6 at 275 with a ton of control (I always do these with a pause on the floor in the style of RP). I finished up with a couple of sets of hip thrusts, which I’m hoping will help me “feel” my glutes better when I’m deadlifting.
I finished with a 20 minute incline walk at an effort level that kept my heart rate in the 130s, which is solidly zone 2 for me. My work schedule has been interfering with my afternoon rucks, so it must makes sense to get it in with my morning lift. Reading @T3hPwnisher’s log has me guilty enough about skipping cardio to make this a habit.
I have trouble believing that this is enough to create an interference effect.
Shoulders were looking juicy enough for a post-workout mirror selfie:
EDIT:
Forgot to add that my weight has been stagnant for two weeks, in spite of consistently hitting a minimum of 3500 calories. I was 207 this morning, the lowest I’ve been in a month. Kind of shocked that my maintenance has gotten this high, especially with my activity level dropping recently, but this is definitely the most muscle I’ve ever carried (shouts out to HCG). I’m going to upshift to 3800 and see what happens.
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3/23
The QL remains aggravated, so I’ve made an adjustment to accommodate. I’m going to run a modified version of the Russian squat program on bench and squat over the next several weeks to give the back a chance to mend up. During this time, deadlifts will be replaced with RDLs and OHP will be performed after benching. I’m counting on some nice high bar and bench PRs for my trouble–hopefully 480-500 and and 315-325, respectively. Then I’ll resume my more balanced linear programming with training days rotating between squat, bench, deadlift, and OHP. Looking back, I was such an idiot to walk into the gym and jump straight to 405…who did I think I was, Shane freaking Hunt? I’m going to make it a habit to start deadlift days with a circuit BB rows and front squats; I’d rather err on the side of being a little fatigued vs. inadequately warmed up.
Ran through bench today. The original Russian squat program calls for 6x3 @80%, building up to 6x6 by the end of the block, but I started with 3 sets of 6 because that just makes more sense? 245 for the working weight based off of my barely paused 305 the other day. Followed that up with 3x6 at 165 on OHP and all of the other arm, shoulder, neck, and forearm isolations that I cram into pressing days.
In other news, everything in my life seems to be breaking. Camera is kaput, truck won’t start, fiancée’s car won’t start, dresser drawer handle fell off, and my computer is apparently being contacted by Wintermute (if you know, you know). I was wrapping up editing on my second episode of Strength Stories this afternoon when the program lost track of literally all of my images. I couldn’t retrieve them off of my most recent save; it’s like they fell into a black hole of binary. I’m no computer scientist, but my much savvier fiancée spent an hour trying and failing to retrieve them. Looks like I’m starting a new game. Disheartening, but I’m highly motivated. Like any healthy adults, fiancée and I will deal with our malfunctioning vehicles later.
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I had an old jeep I bought at 16 with lawn mowing money. Thing was junk from day 1, but I loved it.
Fast forward a few years, I am doing a summer internship at the Pentagon. Still have my trusty jeep. Go to start it leaving work, and the engine block straight up catches on fire. I’m talking flames just shooting out from the hood.
Turns out Pentagon security is a little touchey about flaming vehicles near the building. Lots of yelling, lots of posturing, at one point I legit remember some guy screaming in my face “make it stop” to which my flustered 19 year old self goes “I’m not a mechanic!”. Damn car nearly got me shot.
3 years later, driving in San Diego, same jeep, and I notice some black smoke coming out the hood of the car. I legit pulled over, called a buddy, and left the car on the side of the road. Sold it on Craigslist that night, and had the guy come pick it up from said side of the road. Absolutely was not going to play that game again haha.
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I laughed out loud twice at this story. “Same Jeep” was what got me for the second time.
Glad you came out of all that without any burns that limited your pressing mobility; I guess also without having your name on any watchlists?
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3/24
I caved today and rejoined the Capital City Barbell, which is only a block from my apartment and hands down the best gym I’ve ever set foot in. Anytime Fitness was cheap, but full of gross pop and obnoxious undergraduates checking their abs on every available reflective surface; also, the girl who works the front desk was making things awkward by coming onto me. I had to go around holding up my ring finger like a crucifix.
Anyway, all of that gave me a solid excuse to find my way back to Cap City. Shane Hunt trains there, as do a bunch of really strong USAPL lifters. Absolutely drop in if you’re ever in Tallahassee, and tell Josh that Mason sent you.
First day of the Russian squat program, with the goal of hitting 500 high bar ATG. 6x3 at 385 with every set feeling easier. The reverse hyper offered my QL immediate relief. I’m excited to bench on a solid setup tomorrow instead of a surface as slick as the aftermath of a Nuru massage scene.
Last night, I lost all of the visual for my second video for Strength Stories (my fiancée said it has something to do with where images were cached, which means about as much as the phrase “postmodern gynocentrism” to me). I had to restart the editing from scratch, so I decided to split it into two parts. The first half, which I’ll upload this afternoon, covers the bent press; the second installment focuses on Arthur Saxon himself, who still holds the official world record in that don’t-try-at-home movement.
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FELLAS, IT’S LAHVE:
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