If you do a PR alone in the woods, does it still count?

Training Training Logs
42

Summer GPP training week 4

Monday

Power clean 75kg

5x

5x

5x

5x

5x

Ss with total 50 ab wheel rollouts

CGBP comp. pause 87,5kg

8x

8x

8x

8x

8x

Ss with total 50 seal rows

Curls and triceps 2x10-15

Fartlek run 3,2km @ 20min

Tuesday

Pause squat 160kg

5x

5x

5x

5x

5x

Ss with total 22 assisted dips and 29 bw dips

Friday

Deficit DL 175kg

7x

7x

7x

7x

Ss with 4x30 sec weighted plank

Ohp 57,5kg

8x

8x

8x

8x

8x RPE 10

Ss with total 33 chins

Ssb squat 15x142,5kg. This was hard. I thought I could have done 20 reps, but my left calf cramped.

Chest press machine 3x12-15 to failure

Ss with

Cable lateral raises 3x12-15 to failure

Saturday

Light run (did not measure time or distance) and a long walk

Notes

  • In some movements I can feel the volume. I think it’s a good thing. All pulling is still feeling easy, squatting starts to feel hard. Close grip bench is alright and ohp did feel really hard.
  • Monday and tuesday went fine, but I was on a fishing trip wed/thu, and slept and ate horribly. In the result of the trip and cumulative fatigue I felt terrible on friday. Managed to pull decent workout in nonetheless.
  • BW is slowly going down. I’ll stop cutting around 110kg.
  • Dips are progressing. It was not matter of strength, but mobility and stability.
  • I did not fully follow the plan, as usual. This block is not fully about the plan and discipline, I let some chaos in to my training and do fully enjoy it.
  • Next week will be gramped in 3 days. I try to get 2 gyms and 1-2 runs in.

About running

I don’t enjoy running.

I’ve done a fair bit running in my life. When I was in military (and 30kg lighter) I was decent in it. Now I can run, but my running is not spectacular.

But I’ve never enjoyed it. Runner’s high has been absent, even when I’ve ran longer distances. High intensity weight training, angry bodybuilding work or strongman conditioning is what excites me. when I found out how lifting made me feel I haven’t looked back.

I still run occasionally. I think it’s important to be able to run. I would almost add it besides the basic movement patterns. If you need to be able to press or squat, you should be able to run, even for a short distance.

I usually do a short running block once a year. Few weeks dedicated running every year and some light runs during the year maintains some running condition.

I have still 4ish weeks before the coaching begins. Going to keep my current block going for 1-2 weeks and test either mile time or do a cooper test (12 min run for distance) at the end of it.

Then I’ll do only stuff I feel like and do lot of stuff I think wont be part of my PL training during the fall. Probably focusing more bodybuilding style training and strongman conditioning. It’s only for 2 weeks or so, so I won’t plan the ”block” much. I’ll just swing it and have fun.

3 Likes
43

Summer GPP training week 5

Monday

CGBP comp. pause 90kg

8x

8x

8x

8x

8x

Ss with total 40 seal rows

Pause squat 165kg

5x

5x

5x

5x

5x

Ss with total 10 assisted dips and 39 bw dips

Triceps 1 x amrap to failure

Biceps 1x amrap to failure

Tuesday

20 min fartlek run @ 3350m

Wednesday

Incline bench, rest pause drop set

8x70kg

8x65kg

7x60kg

Deficit DL, 8x200kg PR, RPE 9

Leg extensions, rest pause drop set

11x100kg

10x90kg

20x70kg

Behind the neck press, rest pause drop set

12x40kg

13x35kg

10x35kg

Notes:

  • Short and cramped week as expected. So I prioritized. I skipped power cleans completely, since bench and squats give me more bang for my buck. Wednesday’s workout took only 25 minutes a d I had no rest during thr workout.

  • First workout started to be relatively hard, but not as hard as I expected. 165kg in pause squats suck, but they moved well. Deficit DL rep PR was also fun surprise, specially that I had slept wery poorly before the workout. Nice to see that I’m still getting stronger (or better?), even that’s not the priority in this block.

  • Also this was the dreaded 5th week, it’s often the week my performance drops or when I feel like I’m going to injure myself. This week I felt fine. Maybe more tired than usually, but performance was alright. Maybe it’s because weight training has been less intense, or that I started finally light enough. Interesting nonetheless.

  • Weight has not really dropped this week, but I’ve had couple social occasions where I haven’t been too pedantic in wgat I eat. It’s okay, losing weight is not a huge priority, but just a little bonus, at this point.

  • Running is improving steadily. I’ll do a run test soon.

  • No text today. I’m in a music festival for the rest of the week.

3 Likes
44

Quoting this because I 100% agree with all of it, running is truly awful and I have never enjoy it nor experienced any sort of high or pleasure, yet it feels fundamental to basic human function/capability, if you can’t run (outside of physical impairment) then you’re not a well functioning human.

2 Likes
45

Yes. It could be maybe justified if I would be superweight elite powerlifter with world class squat and dead, but for the 99,99% of population it’s not the case.

If bloody Mitchell Hooper did run when prepping for WSM and Alex Viada did marathons, 1-3 kms should not be too much for me.

1 Like
46

Summer GPP training week 6

Tuesday

Power clean 90kg

5x

5x

95kg

5x

5x

Ss with total 60 ab wheels

CGBP, comp. pause 92,5kg

8x

8x

8x

8x

8x

Ss with 40 seal rows

DB bicep curls rest pause set: 15,10,6

Wednesday

Pause squat 170kg

3x

3x

3x

3x

3x

Ss with total 50 bw dips. Goal achieved.

Deficit Deadlift 185kg

7x

7x

7x

7x

ss 4x30s. weighted planks

LTE 2x12

Hard workout. Hurt my SI -joint(?) during deadlifts. After the workout my left glute felt ”funny”, but later the pain got much worse. Had to eat quite strong painkillers to get at least some sleep.

Did couple following days lighter, and the SI feels better already. During and after the run test pain was maybe 1-2/10. So not terrible. No heavy squats or deads next week though.

Thursday

light run and 1,5h walk

Friday

Seated Ohp 50kg

7x

7x

45kg

10x

10x

ss with total 40 lat pulldowns

Lateral raises 3x15

Ss

Rear raises 3x15

Had no more in me. Felt like trash.

Saturday

Run test

Cooper (12min run test for max distance): 2525m

Notes:

  • This was definitely the last week of this block. Sets and weights were hard. I was happy how the first two workouts felt, but after that the fatigue got me. Getting hurt was a clear sign of this. I have felt quite sore and crappy overall. Still, happy how this block went. Ended up strong. Got the 50 dips and the run test done. Also the weights were decent during this week, specially when this was not supposed to be ”strength focused” block.

  • Running test went as I expected and was happy about it. I did run it with treadmill and started too slow, so I needed no increase the speed during the run. Not a good strategy. Still, it’s good result for a guy of my age, weight and not being a runner. I prob. could get it to 2700 which would be ”excellent” for my age, but I’m not going to aim for it this time.

  • Weight is going down quite easily. Lowest this week was 110,6kg. Still no huge hunger or lack of energy. I’m earing 4 high carb meals a day and feeling good throught the day. I’ll keep cutting for 1-2 weeks and that’s it. Then on to small surplus.

  • So there’s 2 more weeks before coaching and PL training starts, but I’ve reached the end of this block. I want to start the PL training fresh with no pain or fatigue.

So I’ll do short , ”bridge/pivot block” with bb style training. I’ll rotate between push pull legs however I have time to train.

I will use lighter movements to allow some deload effect, and I’ll focus on stuff I won’t most likely be doing during the fall. I choose the movements on the fly. No point having detailed plan for 1-2 weeks of training.

Something like this:

  • Legs

Light comp. squat 1-2 sets

One single leg movement 1-3 sets

One quad focused movement 1-3 sets

One Ham/glute focused movement 1-3 sets

Erg conditioning if time

  • Push

Light comp bench 1-2 sets

One chest movement 1-3 sets

One shoulder movement 1-3 sets

One tricep movement 1-3 sets

Erg conditioning if time

  • Pull

Light comp. dl 1-2 sets

One horizontal pull 1-3 sets

One vertical pull 1-3 sets

Abs and biceps 1-3 sets

Erg conditioning if time

I have been wanting to write a text about Russia and also a text about animal intelligence and the question of human exceptionialism, but both of these will consume some time and energy and I do not have neither of those now. Maybe next week?

2 Likes
47

Deload/pivot bodybuilding stuff

I’m updating after every “cycle”, since weeks don’t really make sense in this training. I did legs again today for example.

Monday: Legs

Squat: 2x5x160kg

Bulgarian split squat
10x60kg
10x70kg
10x75kg

GHR 3x8 (assisted with hands in bottom)

Leg extensions 1x15x100kg

Tuesday: push

Comp. bench 3x5x90kg

Behind the neck press
8x50kg
8x45kg
10x40kg

Cable tricep extensions rest pause 50kg
15,9,6

Chest press machine rest pause 65kg
13,8,5

Crazy pump.

Erg conditioning
5 min treadmill
5 min rower
5 min ski machine
5 min airdyne

Wednesday: pull

Comp. deadlift 2x5x180kg

Barbell rows
7x120kg
8x110kg
11x100kg

Lat pulldowns rest pause 80kg: 12,8,6

Curls rest pause 15kg: 12,7,5

Weighted plank 3x30 s.

Notes:

  • First: Why light comp. lifts? Well, they’re light since this is essentially a deload. But I haven’t done comp. lifts for a while now and I felt I wanted to get the feel/form right before starting the PL training with the coach.

  • Training was easy, as it should. Was really sore, which is normal for me at the first week of new block if there’s new stuff. But sore in a good way, and not fatigued at all. Actually felt quite good.

  • Low back feels fine. SI joint hurts slightly in certain positions and ”clicks”. I reckon it’s getting better already, so I was lucky and it’s just a small tweak.

  • Did minimum with the conditioning this week. My excuse was the heat/humid weather and other stuff I needed to do.

  • Next week will be very short in terms of training, since I’m again most kf the week in the cottage and in the woods/lake. Good thing is that I’ll be fresh (even slightly deconditioned) when the coaching starts.

Russia: the good, bad and the ugly

Russia is a big part of my life.

I’ve been in Russia several times, studied a lot of Russian history, have read many Russian authors and have personally known several Russians. So this is personal in many ways.

Good:
Russia has a long history and a ton of cultural base. People there have always lived under oppression, but that has not hindered the artists, quite contrary. I’ve read Tolstoi, Bulgakov, Grossman, Gogol, Pelevin, Babtšenko, Aleksijevitš and many others. Russian writers are amongst my favorites. The gritty/dark humor, quality satire and dark themes work really well and somehow Russian authors can grasp these things perfectly. I also love Russian composers, particularly Tchaikosvky. And not to mention the food, which is optimal comfort food with way too much fat.

The people there are also often hardened by the harsh society, and are though in a way that make them easily likeable. At least younger gen. and actors of opposition I’ve met fall in to this category.

Bad:
Sadly the country has a lot of bad too. Like I said, the system has always been oppressive and undemocratic. It shows in everything. People often even don’t have similar sense of civil society than westerners have. System sucks and you just need to try to survive somehow.

Also, there’s strong imperialistic and ultranationalistic vibe in the country. Russia is a “god given empire” and it should be able to use military power to express it’s power. This has gotten much worse during Putin’s reign, since he’s controlling the media and killing/silencing opposition. Many Russians, particularly the older folk seem to live in a alternative reality made by Kreml. And that’s reality is scary.

Ugly:

Besides the stuff above the country is a mess. Corruption has always been a problem, and many things don’t work as tgey should. Also, the country is stalled as a society. Economy is trash, there’s insane inflation and rates because of Putin’s war. Country’s population is in decline and there’s massive social problems across the country.

Russia lives in a past, but not in the real past, where Russians would reflect problems of their country or speak freely about the Soviet era. Instead Russians are fed with glorified romanticized past of a great peaceful empire. This past guides Putin and his rushist government too.

Overall I’m sad and worried about Russia. Not just because of opressed russians, but also for everybody else. The country has thousands of nukes and that’s everybody’s problem if Putin goes completely unhinged. Also, me and people who Iove happen to live next to this country which is unstable in every way you can imagine

I quess I wanted to do longer and more prepared text about the subject, but this will suffice.

4 Likes
48

Deload/pivot bodybuilding stuff

Friday: legs. Legs feeling sore, probably the bulgarians fucked them up.

Squat 1x5x160kg

Smith sissy squat 2x10-12. Awesome pump.

GHR 3x6-8

Cycling for 5kms (finally some cycling after a pause).

Saturday: push

Feet up bench with comp. Pause 4x8x75kg

Behind the neck press 4x10x35kg

LTE rest pause 2x12x35kg

Was on a different town and went to a morning workout to a outdoor gym. Had limited stuff to do, but got a lot of reps in.

Sunday: pull (and more push)

Deadlift 2x5x190kg

Comp. bench 2x5x95kg
Ss with chins 10,8,7,6,5

EMOM for 10 min
25m stone carry (80kg)
12 lateral raises or 12 ab wheels (alternating each set)

Lifting was not hard. Did some comp. bench, and lateral raises, since I felt that the yesterdays lifting was not hard.

I wanted to do at some conditioning which is lacking (surprisingly when you don’t have goals you get lazy), so I did the strongman stuff pairee with accessories. It was hard. The stone was easy rubber stone, but it did hit my biceps and traps. Also my lungs were on fire. This was definitely harder than the run test couple weeks ago.

I have just been fishing and cooking for the past 2 days. I’ll do today a workout (I figure something out), and give myself a break from any training for the rest of the week.

2 Likes
49

Deload/pivot training

Wednesday

”Fitness trail” modified

More reps, ”light” movements. Lighter end sets as amraps.

10 sets, circuit:

Bulgarians

Close grip incline

Barbell rows

Rest 1,5-2 min

Bulgarians

7x 60, 65

6x 67,5, 72,5, 75

5x 80, 82,5, 85, 86

7x 75

Close grip incline

7x 50, 55, 57,5,

6x 62,5, 67,5, 70

5x 71, 72,5, 73

7x 65

Barbell row

7x 100,

6x 105, 107,5, 110,

5x 115, 120, 122,5, 125, 126

6x110

Notes:

  • Got sweaty and tired, but this was not insanely hard.
  • Next 4 days will be full rest. This was end of my summer “off season” training.
  • Lowest weight in few days has been 110,1. This was the end of this cut. I lost around 4-4,5kg weight without much effort. I could go on with this, but it would be stupid. I’m not overweight and how I would explain my coach that I’m 195cm 110kg guy restarting powerlifting who wants to cut. Hahah.

Project powerlifter

So, next year should be all about PL training. Reason for that is very simple. I want to be stronger. And PL gives me clear and simple framework to work in. I said to my coach that I don’t actually enjoy competing/meets too much, so focus is on building base strength and maximum strength in PL lifts, meets can be used in a way to express the progress, not as a main focus.

Why the coach then? I can program stuff in a manner that It won’t usually wreck me up. Point is to try something different. I’ve done programming by myself for years, I love the planning and the nerdy stuff around lifting. So now it’s a different experience to give other (much more experienced) the responsibility of planning.

Also, to he honest, I’m not too happy with my strength levels. Squat and dead are fine, but they could be much better. Bench is way too weak. The major reason for this is my “goal hopping”. I tend to work decently towards a goal, but my training phases take only 2 to 4 months.

Building strength (and muscle needed for that strength) would need much longer dedication at this point. The reason squats and deads have progressed nonetheless is because they’re kinda needed in most stuff I’ve done. Strongman, WL, PL or even running build/need strong legs and back. So I’ve pulled and squatted no matter the goal.

Bench is a different animal. I’ve mostly used bench as a secondary movement during the past 2 years or so. And since I’m not gifted bencher at all, I need to really focus on it for a longer period to make it even decent. And I want to build my squat and dead from “kinda strong” to “kinda more strong”. I have certain numbers in my mind, but I’ll focus on the progress of putting 2,5kg in to the bar, not to any goal numbers.

I’m not sure the numbers will happen in a year, or what I think in next summer about this. There might be coming some life changes at some point, and it might derail me. But now it’s time to get big and strong.

2 Likes
50

Building the Momentum Week 1

This week was really, really light. Probably lightest training I’ve done this year when not counting the deloads. But it’s good to start light. Coach said that focus on quality and we start to build momentum from here, hence the name for this block.

Monday

Squat 3x8x130kg. RPE 5

Deficit deadlift 3x4x170-175kg. RPE 6

Leg extensions 3x10x90kg
Leg curls 3x10x20kg (weird machine)
Weighted ab wheel 3x10

Felt a bit deconditioned but everything moved easy.

Tuesday

Comp. bench 3x10x75kg. RPE 5

Tricep pushdowns 3x10x55kg
Lateral raises 3x12x10kg

Lat pulldowns 3x10x70kg

Easy. Light pump.

Thursday

Close grip bench 3x10x70kg. RPE 5

Seated OHP 2x10x42,5kg. RPE 6

Cable triceps extensions 3x10x50kg
Rear raises 3x10x10kg

Same as tuesday.

Friday

Pause squat 3x4x140kg. RPE 5-6.

Deadlift 3x8x150kg. RPE 5

Hip thrusts 3x10x100kg. Weird and unpleasant movement.

Single leg press (light pause at the bottom) 3x10x90kg. Still was the first thing that felt like work this week.

Leg extensions 3x10x110kg.

Notes:

  • So, an easy start. But it’s very humid and pretty hot here now, and there’s no AC at the gym. So I was soaked at the end of every workout.

  • Increased the kcals to 3800/day. It had no major impact to my weight yet. I might up that up to 4000 soon. I’ll try to gain slowly though, and keep my diet relatively ”clean” (mainly not much processed shit). Macros will be around P230/C380/F130.

  • I completely slacked my conditioning during this week (just like last week). It’s funny how it goes: once you don’t have aim/goal, just just ”can’t find time” for it. I did 7 mins of airdyne before and after lifting, so It has not been completely absent, but that’s not enough for anything.

  • So from the next week on I’ll start again cycling to work. I’ll aim for +40km of cycling per week. Also, 1-2 longer walks/hikes per week should not be too much. I’ll log my conditioning too to keep myself accountable.

  • It’s August and schools open soon. Next 4-5 months will be busiest of the year. I’m also writing reports from every workout and from the week to my coach and log it to the RTS -app. These all will have an effect to this log. I’ll keep the weekly updates, but the misc. ponderings about the world might be more infrequent.

Today’s thought will be shortest so far:

This week reminded of me one thing I was kind of lacking. I had the effort, but I did not have enough intent in my training. Focus on everything more.

3 Likes
51

Building the Momentum week 2

Monday

Squat 3x8x140kg

Still under RPE 6

Deficit deadlift 3x4x180kg RPE 6

Leg extensions 3x10x110kg, RPE 7,5

Single leg curls 3x10x30kg RPE 6,5

Weighted plank 3x30 s. @ 30kg

Tuesday

Comp. Bench 3x10x85kg RPE 6,5

Tricep pushdowns 3x10x65-70kg

Lateral raises 3x10x10kg

Lat pulldowns 3x10x70-75kg

Terrible sleep last night. Got nice pump. Start to feel soreness in legs.

Thursday

CGBP 3x10x80kg RPE 6

Seated ohp 3x10x42,5kg RPE 6

Tricep extensions 3x10x60kg

Rear raises 3x10x12,5kg

Very easy workout.

Friday

Pause squat 3x4x145kg RPE 6

Learning to have more control/tightness at the bottom.

Deadlift 3x8x160kg Under RPE 6

Hip Thrust 3x10x100-130kg.

Still learning the movement.

Single leg press 3x10x100kg + rack

This was relatively hard.

Leg extensions 3x10x120kg

Nice pump.

Definitely longest and hardest workout of the week. Still tolerable though.

Conditioning

Total cycling 16km

Total ergs 8000m

One long walk/hike.

Not the greatest week for conditioning, but at least something in. During the days I’m driving to work I’ll do ergs at the gym.

Next weel will be build differently, since I have long ass SBD workout with the coach on Friday.

2 Likes
52

Building the Momentum Week 3

Monday

Squat 3x8x150kg RPE 6,5

Deficit DL 3x3x185kg RPE 6

Leg extensions 3x10x110kg

Single leg curls 3x10x30-40kg

Weighted ab wheel 3x10x10kg

Tuesday

Comp. bench

1x100kg, under RPE 6

3x8x90kg RPE 7

Triceps extensions 4x10x60kg

Lateral raises 4x10x10kg

Lat pulldowns 3x10x75kg

Friday (workout with the coach)

Pause squat

3x3x150kg RPE 6

Close grip bench, paused

4x8x87,5kg RPE 6,5

Deadlift

3x7x172,5kg RPE 7

One leg hip thrust 3x10x25kg

One leg press 3x10x100kg

Leg extensions 2x12x100kg

Time consuming workout with the coach. We changed one minor thing in my DL setup, but mostly talked about training and where we are heading. This block has been an entry block. And the light high quality work has really helped, I’ve had surprising doms in new places and my lagging left leg has gotten good work in.

Also my squat feels much more tight in a good way, and I feel good. My knees are in amazing condition and no any other big aches. I also have a lot of energy at home and at work. I think these lighter training weeks have come in a right spot.

We also did work with the bench. I move my legs way more out, sink the bar more to my chest and synchronize better the leg drive and the pressing phase. First this might feel odd, but I trust the gains will come.

The training will get more intense after a few weeks. This week’s intensity is the normal intensity if the first week of the block. I have to say that the masochist in me waits it eagerly.

Week’s Conditioning

Total cycling 32kms

Total ergs 3000m

One 1,5hr walk

Other notes:

  • Good trend with the conditioning. I’ll keep raising the km’s.

  • Weight is coming up in a snail’s speed. Losing weight is kinda easier to me than gaining it. If I don’t start to see the progress soon, I’ll need to up the kcals to over 4000.

  • I’m being active in the other threads. I think that’s a good way to get the writing in naturally now when I’m more busy. I kinda have this bad habit that I can’t keep my mouth shut. But I’ve enjoyed the conversations for the most part.

4 Likes
53

The increasing cardio isn’t going to help here, but presumably that’s a trade off you’re willing to make? Have to eat more but get to do more. Assuming your coach knows your activity levels and makes adjustments as needed?

What sort of weight gains are you aiming for?

1 Like
54

Yeah it is not. Hahah.

But like you said, having the cardio in serves other goals. I’m not young and letting myself out of shape is an unecessary risk.

My cardio is very low impact currently, so it does not really affect anything else negatively.

My coach actually don’t interfere much tp my eating. He basically said two things: don’t cut and it’s preferable to track what you eat.

So in the end, I just need to eat more. Hahah.

I’m currently eating 3900kcals. I’ll up it to 4100 next. I’m aiming to gain slow. I’ve done the dirty bulk mistake everyone does too. I have no exact number in mind, but I try to keep slow gain at least 6 months from now.

2 Likes
55

Building the Momentum Week 4

Monday

Comp. Bench
1x95kg
1x105kg, RPE 6,5
3x6x97,5kg RPE 8
1x6x92,5kg

Tricep pushdowns 3x12x70kg
Lateral raises 3x12x12,5kg
Lat pulldowns 3x10x75kg

Learning the new form. Much better leg drive now. I was over emphazising tightness and did not have enough force transfer.

Very good pump from the accessories. My daughter was with me and we walked back from the gym. It took around an hour and I was pretty hungry when got home.

Wednesday

Squat
1x155kg
1x175kg RPE 5
3x7x160kg RPE 6-7

Deficit deadlift 3x2x190kg RPE 6,5

Leg extensions 3x10x110kg
Single leg curls 3x10x30-40kg

I had new SBD -sleeves. They made a big difference on how my squat felt.

Friday

CGBP, paused 3x8x92,5kg RPE 7

Seated ohp 3x10x47,5kg

Tricep extensions 3x10x65kg
Rear raises 3x10x12,5kg

Sunday

Pause squat 3x3x155kg RPE 6

Deadlift 3x6x182,5kg RPE 6-7

Single leg hip thrust 3x10x35kg
Single leg press 3x10x100kg
Leg extensions 3x10x100-120kg

Something had upset my stomach, which caused me to feel depleted. Everything moved well though. Insane quad pump at the end.

Week’s conditioning: total 40kms of cycling, two longer walks.

Notes:

  • This week started to feel like work. Nothing very hard yet though. Feeling strong and I’ve gotten better/more firm with all the main lifts.
  • Weight was between 111,2-112kg. Small steps. If every month start with new average I’m happy.
  • Interestingly, I had an ”cheat day” yesterday. I had two beers and ate not very cleanly. Still I was week’s lightest today morning. And it was before I started running to toilet.

A short thought:
Since we live in a post-factual era (or do we actually?), I need to remind myself with the simple fact constantly: not all information or opinion is valued the same.

There’s also difference debating values and debating facts.

4 Likes
56

Building the Momentum week 5 (light)

Monday

Comp. Bench
1x100kg
1x110kg Under RPE 7

Tricep pushdowns 3x10x75-80kg
Lateral raises 3x10x12,5kg

Lat pulldowns 3x10x75-80kg

Heaviest bench for a while. Was not hard.

Wednesday

Squat 1x135kg 1x155kg
4x6x140kg

Leg extensions 2x10x90kg
Single leg curls 2x10x25kg

Weighted plank 3x45s. 25kg

Light work. Can’t estimate RPE for it.

Friday

CGBP paused 3x6x97,5kg RPE 7-9

Last set was hard. Heaviest work this week.

Deadlift 3x5x155kg

Fun and light. Felt like speed work.

No accessories.

Week’s conditioning

Total ergs 8500m
Total 28km of cycling

Notes:

  • Light week. Semi light for bench and full deload for squat/dead.

  • Have been slightly sick whole week. Schools have started, so it’s the fun that always comes. Not sick so badly that I could not work or train, but clearly did not have the edge this week. Feeling hangoverish every day, also did have some problems with stomach.

  • Luckily it was a light week. I’m feeling alright now, so I should be ready to push the training again,

  • Figured out that building the momentum is almost named like Wendler’s Building the Monolith. Hah. No intentional plagiarism.

  • Weight pumped up to 112-113 this week. Got a bit too confident with the slow gain and ended eating a bit too much crap a bit too often. It was not a big derail, but it’s funny how you immediately see in the scale and in the mirror if you eat some fatty/salty/sugary stuff for a couple days.

3 Likes
57

Building the Momentum week 6

Hurt my back this week. Again. More about that later in the post.

Monday

Squat
1x150kg
1x170kg, Under RPE 6
3x8x157,5kg RPE 6,5-7

Deficit deadlift 3x3x187,5kg RPE 6,5

Leg extensions 4x12x100kg
Single leg curls 4x12x25kg

Insane pump.

Weighted plank 4x25-35s @ 25-35kg

Some stiffness in the squat, I did some some tissue recovery stuff on sunday. Might be from that. It moved really well though. Deads felt awesome. Explosive.

Tuesday

Comp. Bench
1x100kg
1x107,5kg RPE 6

3x10x90kg RPE 8-9

Tricep pushdowns 4x10x75kg
Lateral raises 3x10x12,5kg

Lat pulldowns 3x10x70-80kg

Right shoulder was a bit tender, I warmed it up properly with bands and bench went well. Tens are tough. Pausing makes the set long to keep form/tightness.

Next weel will be lighter with the bench.

Thursday

CGBP, paused 3x10x85kg RPE 7

Felt good. Hundred BPAs during warm ups helped.

Seated ohp 3x10x47kg

Tricep extensions 4x10x70kg
Rear raise 4x10x12,5kg

My triceps and shoulders are definitely growing.

Friday

Pause squat
3x3x152,5kg RPE 6, solid and easy

Deadlifts
1x7x177,5kg
Felt awesome.
1x7x177,5kg → snap!

Second set was great, but during last rep it felt like somebody shot me in my back and I did drop the bar immediately. I was lying on the floor for 20 mins after that and called the workout.

First day was terrible. I felt fairly certain it was a bulking disc. But now the the worst cramps are away, I feel it’s not a disc issue at all. My left part of SI -joint and left glute are really sore and the movement is limited.

I’ve had this before. If you read my log I had similar situation just couple months ago. Then I recovered miraculously fast, but this feels slightly worse. Not the worst though. 3 years back I dis hurt my SI -joint pretty badly and did not deadlift for months.

So it seems I have a weakness that needs to be adressed. I recon it might be partly due imbalances on my legs. Left leg has been operated twice and it’s weaker. It has been fairly stiff and sore recently. Which is a good sign, but I think left leg being super tight causes some uneven movement in my hips, and when youre repping big weight, it will cause problems.

So next step is to have regular (monthly?) massages to my hips/quads/hams/glutes. Let see if that helps. This needs to be fixed, if I’m going to break the 600lbs dead in relatively near future.

Next week’s programming is out of the window. I’ll get 1-2 massages to my legs, do some light benching and upper body work. I’ll try to do squats and deads, but it’s impossible to say how much weight I can use. If it’s only the bar, so be it.

Weeks conditioning
Total cycling 42km
Two long walks

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58

Bench deload and back rehab

Monday

Massage + rehab

Wednesday

Squat 3x6x130kg

Comp. Bench 1x100kg, 3x6x80kg

DL 2x8x80kg

Triceps, delts, pulldowns lightisly

Friday
Massage and rehab

Weeks conditioning
Total cycling 40km

Notes:

  • My SI was slightly inflammated, since my glutes, hams and quads were so tight that they were pulling it wrong. I need to remember I’m not young and I need to take care of these things at least sometimes.
  • Did not count kcals this week. Has been around maintenance.
  • Next week is normal training. Everything has felt fine for past couple days.
  • Going to have a break from writing to other threads (except to some logs etc.) for a while. I get sucked in to it and it’s way too time consuming. I need to be good father and husband too, not just have meaningless debates in the internet. They also affect my mood at times, dwelling in politics/world issues always do. World is often an ugly place, but my daily life is not affected by it’s ugliness a lot. Sometimes it’s good to just take distance to it all and focus on the good around you.
5 Likes
59

Building the Momentum week 7

Monday
Squat
1x155kg
1x165kg
3x6x162,5kg RPE 6

Deficit deadlift
3x3x190kg RPE 6

Leg extensions 2x12x105kg
Single leg curls 2x12x25-35kg

Weighted ab wheel 3x12x10kg

Tuesday
Comp. bench 1x105kg RPE 5
3x8x95kg, RPE 7-8

Tricep extensions 3x10x70kg
Lateral raises 3x10x12,5kg

Cable rows 3x10x70-80kg

Thursday
CGBP paused 3x8x90kg, RPE 7

Seated OHP 3x10x47,5kg

Tricep pushdowns with a band 4x25 (insane burn and pump)
Rear delts with cable 3x10x15kg

Friday
Pause squat 2x3x157,5kg RPE 6,5

Deadlift 6x187,5kg Easy as hell. Under RPE 6
2x6x182,5kg

Single leg press 3x10x95kg. Grown to like this movement a lot. Slight pause at the bottom = insane pump to whole leg. Also, easier to set up weights compared to regular leg press.

Single leg hip thrust 3x10x35kg

Week’s conditioning:
Total 34km of cycling, one long walk.

Notes:

  • Insane what a weeks proper rest and rehab does to you. This week was easy. Weights just flew up in the main lifts. Bench volume was only thing remotely challenging.

  • We’re still keeping stuff mostly under RPE 8, specially in squats and deads, which is pretty light to me. If I compare this to springs training, I can see there’s like 10-20kg difference in work weights. Interested to to see how this works.

  • I do understand the meaning of this block. Quality first in the main lifts. Then bodyduild the muscles. Everything has moved very well, but I’ve felt sore/stiff afterwards, which is a good thing.

  • Next week will be slightly heavier, I’m looking forward to it.

  • Weight is around 112,5-113kg. So coming up. I’m feeling more soft now too, but I guess that can’t be fully avoided. I hope it’s mostly fluids.

  • I’ve partly succeeded avoiding PWI section. If I read it, I can’t help but comment at times. I get these thoughts and arguments to my head and I need to burst them out. Sometimes they are more thorough, sometimes not. But it has been more manageable now. If it starts to bother me, I’ll quit reading it completely for a while.

4 Likes
60

Building the Momentum Week 8

Monday
Squat
1x165kg
1x175kg. Easy as it should.
5x167,5kg RPE 6,5
2x5x165kg

Deficit deadlift 3x3x190kg RPE 6

Leg extensions 2x12x110kg
Single leg curls 2x12x30kg

Weighted plank 3x45 sek 25-30kg

Tuesday
Comp. Bench
1x102,5kg
1x112,5kg RPE 7
3x6x100kg RPE 8-8,5

Tricep extensions 3x10x75kg

Lateral raises 3x12x12,5kg

Cable rows 3x10x80-85kg

Thursday
CGBP 3x8x92,5kg RPE 7

Seated ohp 3x10x50kg

Tricep pushdowns with band 4x25
Rear raises 3x12x12,5kg

Insane burn and pump.

Friday
Pause squat 3x3x140kg light and easy.

Deadlift 3x5x192,5kg RPE 6,5-7

Single leg press 3x12x95kg (pausing the last rep)

Very good pump. Did I mention that I love this movement?

Single leg hip thrust 3x12x30kg

Weeks conditioning
Total 27km of cycling
Two long walks
One light jog. Not recommended by the coach, but as a guy who has done a fair bit endurance stuff in my life I can tolerate it easily.

Notes

  • Bench felt like work already, but I’m still amazed how easy we take squats and deads. But I’ll trust the process. I’m feeling sore and tired regularly, so it tells something. Trust the process. The point of me having a coach was not that I did not know how to program, but the point being able just focus on the execution.

  • And I need to say that my form has improved in each lift, and I’ve felt different physically after workouts. I know he knows his shit, and this indicates it strongly. PRs will come when the time comes.

  • Weight is coming up. Being around 113kgs now. I’m noticing that my quads, glutes, shoulders a d triceps are bigger. The wife just commented that I might need new clothes soon. The lifter’s typical problem.

  • I’ve eaten way too many mushrooms lately. It’s the peak harvest season. The fridge in filled with fish and berries. Soon I’ll buy some deer/elk/moose from my friend who hunts. It’s nice to have large stacks of quality food stored up as the long and dark winter comes.

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3 Likes
61

Building the Momentum Week 9

Monday
Squat
1x170kg
1x185kg. Insanely easy. Can’t define RPE.
4x172,5kg RPE 6
2x4x170kg

Deficit deadlift 3x3x195kg RPE 6,5

Leg extensions 2x12x115kg
Single leg curls 2x12x35kg

Weighted plank 3x45 sek 25-30kg

Tuesday
Comp. Bench
1x105kg
1x115kg RPE 7
3x4x105kg RPE 8

Tricep extensions 3x10x75kg

Lateral raises 3x12x12,5kg

Cable rows 3x10x85-90kg

Thursday
CGBP 3x7x97,5kg RPE 7

Seated ohp 3x10x45kg

Tricep pushdowns with band 2x25
Rear raises 3x12x12,5kg

Took the accessories light as coach told me to do for the rest of the week.

Friday
Pause squat 3x3x135kg light and easy.

Deadlift 3x5x200kg RPE 7

Really pleased how these went. Volume work being moderately easy with 200kg/441lbs is a good sign.

Single leg press 2x12x95kg (pausing the last rep)

Weighted plank 1x60 sec @ 25kg

Did the assistance relatively light again.

Weeks conditioning
Total 27km of cycling
Three long walks
One light jog.

Notes

  • Feeling strong. We’ve not touching the PR weights, but I think we might go there soon.
  • I have this growing urge to try some PRs and/or go to a meet. Butr we’re playing the long game here. So patience wins.
  • Top weight was 113,5kg. So it’s going up. I’m getting bigger in my legs, arms and back like I mentioned, but I’m also getting slightly softer. My eating has not been the cleanest all the time. So the reason is obvious. I do feel it’s eating properly is harder when gaining weight compared to losing it. I don’t know if others have similar experiences.
  • Next week I’ll have two relatively heavy workouts, then I’ll have a work trip to France.

As usual, I’ve commented at times in PWI -section and in other threads, but as I’ve been more busy I haven’t done any longer texts. I’ve also noticed that I’ve kept my mouth shut more than usual. I’m reading throught the discussion, but sometimes I notice that I don’t have the energy or interest to go after certain topics.

3 Likes