That’s right mate as MarkKO used to say, we’re not here to fuk spiders 
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That is an outstanding line. All the more poignant for you gents living with the most terrifying spiders on the planet
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19/10/2021
POWER SNATCH & BACK
2215hr start
P. Snatch
- worked up to 160x1
Tried wave-loading up to 160. It helped a little, but hitting a max week after week is making me slow. Something’s gotta change, and I’ve got some ideas.
Hang P. Snatch
- 4x6 @ 95
Chins
- 1x8
- 1x7
- 2x6
- 45 sec stretch/hang + 15 sec flex
All using BW. Full extension at the bottom and paused at the top. I hate chins. I don’t know why, I just hate them. All other back training is fine, but chins can just suck a dick.
BOB row
- 1x12 @ 170
- 1x10 @ 170
- 1x8 @ 170
Stripped the weight and concentrated like hell on squeezing and using my back. Pumped like a balloon after. Sets were cut once I couldn’t pause the bar against my gut.
Notes:
- Cut this session early. I finished the barbell rows, looked at setting up for pullovers, and both my brain and body just said, “We’re done.” It’s rare that this happens. Usually one or the other is still wanting to keep going, while the other wants to stop. When both brain and body are in agreeance, I figure I should listen.
- I’m also gonna cut this block short and completely change gears. Something in The Purposeful Primitive that really stuck out to me was Gallagher talking about changing programs; sometimes, if something isn’t working and you know it, you need to be bold and shake things up. My snatch isn’t improving, and I can feel my C&J starting to stagnate. I’ve felt that I want to shift away from 5/3/1 programming for a while now, but resisted heavily because it was familiar and simple and has worked. None of those points have changed, but I’ve changed in relation to it; certain life circumstances warrant more of an auto-regulated approach.
- All that to say, there’s a hybrid powerlifting-weightlifting 12-week program I first ran a number of years ago that, along with 5/3/1, was one of the best programs I’ve run. It was from an old Iron Mind magazine, I think. I’m gonna take the rest of this week to just mess around and deload, then tackle that program. It’s variable and periodized, so I can run it multiple times too.
5 Likes
While on the subject of Gallagher and back training, you’d be a solid specimen for his “progressive pulls” back training approach, given that you can actually do some solid cleans and high pulls.
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Haha, I feel like you can read my mind sometimes. I love his progressive pulls idea, and my eyes lit up when I read that section. Such an efficient way to get a ton of volume in, following a natural progression.
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Wonder Twin Powers! I love the idea too, until I realize my oafishness will make it so that I’m using a weight that I’ll end up deadlifting for like 400 reps because it’s all I can clean, haha.
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I’m pretty sure you bump the weight up as you progress to harder exercises, so you’d be able to avoid this.
The idea is just so simple and effective, and I can see it being applied to so many exercises.
Leg? Lunges, into front squats, into back squats, into overhead squats, finishing with different lunges.
Pressing? Incline, into CGBP, into decline, finishing with flat. Or DBs; flyes, into flat press, into incline, into DB OHP.
There’s just so many options.
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21/10/2021
AEROBIC INTERVALS
0650hr start
-3°C, clear
Running
- 40 minutes, fartlek-style
For anyone unaware, “fartlek” roughly means “speed play” or “speed sport” in Swedish. It’s a style of running with random bursts thrown in, for random amounts of time. It’s great for those who hate monotonous running or intervals. See two big trees? Run quickly between them. Mailbox? Sprint from it to the end of the road. Walk from one house to the next, then jog, then sprint, then jog, then run, then walk. The combinations are literally endless.
Superset, 2x12
- 45° hypers @ 60
- HLR
Gonna do abs and low-back after every run. There won’t be much room for it in the upcoming cycle without overloading each session.
Kneeling ab wheel
- 25 reps
Notes:
- Fartlek running is also great for keeping my dog’s attention focused on me. While he does zone in on long, steady runs, he can also lose focus easily because there’s nothing keeping his attention. If I’m randomly speeding up and slowing down and cutting corners quickly, he stays way more locked in on what I’m doing instead of other people/dogs.
- Hitting some easy pump work for shoulders and triceps tonight. Just to get blood flowing and make the joints feel good in preparation for next week.
4 Likes
21/10/2021
SHOULDERS & TRICEPS
2210hr start
Barbell OHP
- 3x10 @ 120
OHP strength has plummeted. Oh well, strict pressing isn’t a lift I really care about aside from building bigger, stronger shoulders.
Arnold press
- 2x12 @ 30
- 1x12 @ 20
Never done these before, but I like them. Feel them way more in my shoulders than regular pressing, which my triceps seem to dominate.
DB French press
- 10, 8, 6/side @ 20
Never done these before either, but I love ‘em now. No rest between sides or rep drops.
Notes:
- Short and sweet. Got a little pump, wrapped it up.
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22/10/2021
AEROBIC STEADY STATE
0650hr start
-1°C, cloudy
Running
- 9.5km, untimed
Easy peasy, low and slow. Just found an easy pace and kept it going.
Superset, 2x25
- 45° hypers @ BW
- Lying leg raises
Notes:
- All bueno.
3 Likes
FWIW, I like both Arnold press and the DB French press. They feature heavily in my warm-ups. Glad you discovered them.
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EVIL twin!
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All about that jerk strength, baby!
22/10/2021
SQUATS & LEGS
2205hr start
Prone DB leg curl
- 3x some @ 25
Still can’t get these to operate well. DB keeps jamming into my lower shins painfully. Might just have to accept that leg curls can’t be done effectively without a machine.
B. Squat
- 3x10 @ 270
Probably an RPE 8. Think this’ll be a good rough starting point for the next block, which has, like, 6 weeks of 3-4x10 on the powerlifts.
Landmine hack/sissy squat
- 1x12 @ 50
- 2x12 @ 75
Slow, pause, up, flex. Gonna make sure to do these with even-numbered sets in the future, because one side is ever so slightly more loaded, due to the end of the bar being on one shoulder.
Notes:
- Pumped for next week. I remember really liking the upcoming program. Last night was just about getting blood into the legs.
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Do you have bands?
I do, and that’s what I was using for leg curls before, but the issue is that the tension dies off so quickly at the bottom, and increases exponentially at the top. It’s very hard to do effectively with progressive overload without only working a tiny ROM.
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Totally fair. I liked it I guess more as a warmup, so I didn’t care that much about progressing. I would lay on my stomach and do two “movements” in one set, so I’d do the top half, then crawl out further and do the bottom half.
some people like their feet on sliders or balls or whatever and you can progress by going to one leg, etc., but I never liked that.
Supposed you can do Nordic leg curls with your feet under the barbell, but I can’t really fathom trying that.
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This is kinda/sorta why I do them too; they make my knees fee way better when I squat. However, I do want to add more hamstring size as well.
This is a great idea! I feel stupid for not thinking of it before…
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I got pretty COVID-creative. Covreative
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Indeed, indeed! I’d just do many, many reps then with the bands. And use deadlift variations to build the hammies then
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