I understand the stress of planning specific days and then having life rear its ugly head. I’m just going with the flow right now. Three days a week is good. Five is good. They’re all good.
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I’m starting to see that these days. I’m no longer married to the calendar week for my training. 3 or 4 day/week program rolls into the next week? Who cares. I’m still getting bigger and stronger as long as I’m somewhat constant.
Your log has definitely been and inspiration to follow. Love seeing you get in there and get the work done.
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Man, that means a lot. Thank you! I didn’t really think of it that way. It’s basically my life journal. I put my thoughts out there to get them out of my head. I also want to show that I’m human and everything isn’t so sunshine and roses. I don’t want it to come off as whining or perpetually negative so I try to make sure I let everyone know about the positive days.
The working out part is easy… at least on my days off. I’m fortunate and have three days off (or at least 2.5 days since I pick up extra work). If I can hit it hard on those days then whatever I do during the week is a bonus.
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25/10/2020
Start time: 1255
Garage temp: 3C
Clean
- 5x2 @ 220
Prone band leg curls, 50 total reps
- 1 set
- 60 sec hamstring stretch
Bent row, 25 total reps @ 170
- 1 set, slight cheating
Crossways plate pullover, 50 total reps @ 25
- 1 set
- 60 sec lat stretch
Bench, 50 total reps @ 145 (rest/paused)
- 20, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5
Band OH extensions, 50 total reps (rest/paused)
- 15, 10, 10, 10, 5
- 60 sec triceps stretch
Hungarian plate twists
- 2x12/side @ 50
Notes:
- What I learned from this workout (which I already knew, but this just confirmed it) is even at higher weights, I simply enjoy hitting total reps instead of “sets x reps”. I find I push WAY harder.
- The only rest between the barbell movements and the isolation assistance was the time it took to grab the equipment and get in position. Made for a crazy pump.
- This might be sacrilege but… I kinda miss squatting and deadlifting. I was looking at some of the 5/3/1 Full Body program variations in Forever and I found myself longing to do one — the first power clean one specifically. Lacking a squat rack and having under 400lbs of weight makes that difficult to do for me, BUT, I might make use of a couple chairs and start my squats from the hole. When I first started barbell training that’s what I had to do because I didn’t have a squat rack, and it worked well enough.
- On the diet front, things are going good. I’ve been employing intermittent fasting simply out of convenience, as my kid keeps me super busy in the morning before work. My feeding window has been between 1500 and 2300, and I honestly haven’t noticed any negative effects so far. I’ve also added a hefty dose of salt into my water before training, and started salting my food, because I realized I wasn’t using salt at all and was starting to notice some markers of low sodium.
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I trained outside today since my session had overhead pressing. It was 39 degrees and kind of nice.
I liked the full body template with power cleans. Are you without a squat stand forever or is this a short term inconvenience? If it’s long term then I think you could built some boxes or squat stands fairly cheap. If you do boxes then you could make them so that they work for cleans from blocks. Another benefit would be setting the bar high for overhead work.
If you want to go the squat stand route then you could check out @flappinit’s creation here.
You could also settle for front squats and clean the weight into position.
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Short term inconvenience. Right before lockdowns happened here (mid-March), I made the decision to sell my squat stands because I had been attending my buddy’s gym for the last few months. Then I was stuck with my garage gym, which had everything I needed EXCEPT stands.
I’ll probably utilize the chair scenario for now, and set aside money on my next few paydays for stands.
You are either very short (compared to me) or you have very large chairs. 
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I’m only 5’8” (5’9” on a good day), and my largest plates are slightly larger than a regular 45. So my small stature combined with the plates on the chair seat mean I can wedge myself under the bar easily enough.
The other bonus when I was squatting that way was that my mobility ended up getting pretty crazy, haha.
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There’s probably something to be learned from a bottom up squat. It’s funny how we lift weights to get stronger but prefer easier versions of certain movements.
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I think the biggest thing it taught me was how important bracing is. I could always tell when I wasn’t bracing properly because form immediately got screwy.
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27/10/2020
Start time: 2120
Garage temp: 4C
Bench
- worked up to 215x3
Decline bench
- worked up to 225x3
Standing plate pinch press
- 3x10ish @ 20
EZ bar PJR pullover (rest/pause)
- 1x20, 10, 10 @ 60
Band raises (front-to-lateral, lateral-to-front)
- 1x20
Notes:
- And the plan has changed. Again. Like so many others it seems, I’ve really been struggling this year (the last couple years, actually). Moving across the country has been really hard and it felt like a piece of my identity was left behind. The shitstorm that this year has been simply brought up to the surface everything I’ve been suppressing. I don’t want to take attention away from everyone else. I just finally feel brave enough to admit that I’m not okay — and that it’s okay to admit that.
- All that to say, I’ve been feeling for awhile that I want to focus on some basic strength and size work. I kept denying it because I was so locked into performance-based training for so long, but I think the colder weather is the perfect time to just push strength on some basic lifts, as well as hammering assistance/pump work for the sake of vanity. It’s mentally low-stress for me, which I desperately need right now.
- I’m taking this week to test some training maxes to run Simplest Strength Template, done as a push-pull-legs split. Bench, squat and power clean will be my “big 3”, with decline bench, front squat and Pendlay rows as the SST lifts. 3 assistance lifts after that, plus one ab exercise, kept loose depending on how I’m feeling.
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Training is supposed to be a positive thing and somehow we turn it into something negative. Detach your self worth from training goals - especially if they’re arbitrary strength goals like mine. (I’ve never had that thought til right now.)
Do what’s enjoyable and see where it takes you.
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This statement is such an eye-opener. Especially when I reflect on my word choice surrounding training; “I should be doing X”, “I need to do Y”, “Z would be optimal”.
We ultimately do this (most of us) to be healthy. It’s a hobby. If I/we are being run down by all these shoulds and needs, it’s ultimately becoming unhealthy.
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28/10/2020
Start time: 2115
Garage temp: forgot to check
Jump rope
- 3 min on, 1 minute off x6 rounds
1-leg calf raises
- 1x5-4-3-2-1/side (5 reps w/ 5 sec top hold & 5 sec ecc, 4 reps w/ 4 sec top hold & 4 sec ecc, etc etc)
- 60 sec calf stretch
Notes:
- I haven’t used my rope in a while (probably since last year) but I love it. So many years of jump rope while training martial arts turned it in a great active meditation. It’s also perfect for cold weather cardio because I can layer up and still train in the garage.
- Those calf raises were BRUTAL. I highly suggest everyone give them a try. I only did one set because after all the skipping, my calves and vastus medialus were cramping up hard.
29/10/2020
Start time: 2130
Garage temp: 4C
Power clean
- worked up to 195x3 (cut it there because they weren’t as neat and tidy as I’d like)
Pendlay row
- worked up to 210x3 (starting to cheat, losing explosiveness)
Deadlift
- 375x12
Crossways plate pullovers
- 50x10
- 50x8
- 50x6
EZ bar curls
- worked up to 90x10
- dropsets: 10 reps @ 80, 70, 60
- 60 sec bicep stretch
Notes:
- The deadlift AMRAP wasn’t planned, I just wanted to see where I was at. As machismo as it sounds, I probably could’ve got 15 reps, but cut it at 12 because I was starting to slow down. That’s all the weight I have at home too. Surprised I’ve maintained so much deadlift strength after not doing it for over 6 months.
- The pullovers were… interesting. My right shoulder was popping and clicking when I would reach a certain point on the eccentric. There was no pain, despite my brain freaking out. There would just be tension like the shoulder was “stuck”, then a pop/click and I could continue with the movement. If I focused on doing the eccentric very slow and controlled, then sensation was mitigated. Maybe @j4gga2 has some ideas? It’s every so slightly achy today, but no pain. I’ve had multiple shoulder dislocations, both fully and partially, and both anteriorly and posteriorly, on both shoulders. Maybe I just need to strengthen my shoulders a bit.
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Reading through your struggles and am in the exact same boat and am coming to the exact same conclusions you are. Let off the throttle a bit, enjoy training and use it to burn off the stress from the rest of life. When shit calms down a bit we’ll all get right back to going balls out lifting again (and will probably set ourselves up to kick more ass than before). Keep at it man. If you can get to a hardware store you can build squat stands decently cheap with 4x4’s, cement, and 5 gallon buckets.
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This is the mentality I’m trying to have. Hard lifting isn’t going anywhere. Maintenance and focusing on other aspects are totally fine.
I’ve actually got a small squat rack (simple U-frame) lined up to buy! Small footprint, and it’ll allow me to sell my giant bench rack. Also has a pull-up bar on the top, which is nice.
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Yeah this is bound to be a contributing factor.
Joint popping and clicking, though disconcerting, isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless it’s limiting the exercises that you can do. You don’t need to stop an exercise just because your joints are popping and clicking, which is awesome.
You’ve got lots of fairly plausible management strategies. Some people are very much into rotator cuff strengthening. If you are I’d recommend performing a “giant-set” of sorts featuring:
-
Prone DB External Rotation:
https://youtu.be/m-aexvVqqOc -
Seated DB External Rotation: https://youtu.be/XKCfeJp4Qo0
Perform all 3 with the same DB
Alternatively, you can look for activities that can help reduce the muscle activity on the posterior ribcage, and actually help drive air toward the back. This is a pre-requisite for overhead range of motion. One of my favourite exercises to help with that is the DB spider curl
I have a suspicion that performing scapular upward rotation drills like push-ups to downward-facing dogs could help you “groove the motion” of the shoulder complex required for pullovers. You could chuck those in for warm up, for example
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Awesome dude, thanks so much for the info. I’ll find a way to stick those shoulder exercises into my routine. Another one I was doing as my shoulders assistance was the Thrower’s Ten routine. That really helped fix up my shoulders.
As I’m embarking on some “fluff and puff” and pump work right now, biceps exercises are always a plus. Can you explain how the spider curl does as you mentioned? I’m not sure I understand how it goes about taking focus away from the rear ribs.
The push-up to downward dog is something I should do too. I think part of the issue was just not warming up my shoulders enough. I was using a fairly heavy weight for pullovers for low reps, whereas it seems guys like Arnold suggest a lighter weight for high reps, with plenty of controlled eccentric and a long stretch in the bottom.
Okay this is a bit of a long-winded one.
1st Key Concept: Scapulohumeral rhythm
Scapulohumeral rhythm (SHR) describes the way in which the shoulder blade, ideally, moves with the arm when doing overhead.
In normal SHR, as you go from arms by your side to arms overhead
- 0-60° is dominated by motion of the arm on the scapula
- 60-120° is dominated by motion of the scapula on the ribcage
- 120-80° is shared
For normal SHR to occur, the scapula needs to be fully congruent with the ribcage. For this to occur, the ribcage (anteriorly and posteriorly) needs to have at least a certain level of posterior expansion. A ribcage compressed posteriorly will be flatter, and therefore have a less congruent scapula. Thus, a posteriorly compressed ribcage will not be able to access to full excursion of shoulder flexion.
2nd Concept: Posteriorly Compressive Muscles
Posterior compression can be produced by any muscle on the back of the ribcage. In particular, lats, subscapularis, rhomboids and traps are the “big hitters” of posterior compression. Too much concentric (short) activity, combined with an overcoming (pushing, actively shortening) strategy of these muscles will actively prevent posterior expansion, thus limiting overhead mobility.
3rd Concept: The Propulsion Arc
Because of muscle activity during SHR:
- 0-60° requires posterior lower expansion, and activities in 0-60° improve posterior lower expansion
- 60-120° requires anterior chest wall expansion, and activities in 60-120° improve anterior chest wall expansion
- 120-180° requires upper posterior and upper anterior expansion, and activities in 120-180° improve upper posterior and upper anterior expansion
Therefore, spider curls can improve posterior lower expansion, since they involve reaching and protracted the shoulder blades, at 0-60° of shoulder flexion. As an added benefit, laying face down on the bench helps “block” air flow anteriorly, forcing it posteriorly. This helps improve posterior expansion even further
4th Concept: Selecting Ranges
0-60° of shoulder flexion is a prerequisite to 60-120° and 120-180°. 60-120° is a prerequisite for 120-180°.
Usually, with lifters, all the heavy loads and sets to failure lead to a lot of compression front and back. If you ever watch powerlifters, this explains why they waddles instead of rotating smoothing through the torso when walking, since proper gate requires alternating expansion and compression.
As such, I assume that if I placed you 60-120° (e.g. for a skullcrusher), you would have to use some non-standard mechanism to get there, but by placing you at 0-60° of flexion, I increase your probability of success.
5th Concept: Execution
Make sure you start the exercise from a “stacked” position, and maintain that position. The easiest way to find the stack is to let out the longest, slowest exhale you can, feeling your lower abs, middle abs and finally upper abs contract sequentially. If you feel like you need to cough, you’ve exhaled long enough. From this position, inhale gently from your nose. You can maximise the effects of this exercise by inhaling on the concentric/top position (nasally), and exhaling fully on the eccentric/bottom position
Secondly, make sure you fully eccentrically-orient the posterior musculature by protractor your scaps. I like the cue “reach your elbows down and forward,” whilst keeping your elbows in front of your shoulder joint at all times.
Finally, movements of abduction, flexion, external rotation, supination and plantarflexion improve posterior expansion. Therefore, make sure to drive supination at the top of the curl.
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