I learned that there is a lot of room for error when I measure myself, especially since I go to the nearest 1/8". So it’s probable that if a measurement only “changed” by 1/8" or so, there wasn’t actually any change at all and it was just variability in where I place the measuring tape, how tight or loose it is when I take the measurement, etc. Hm
Breakdancing
Hand circle walk
~40min
Got to be able to go faster and do a little spin with the momentum. I think this exercise helps me to be able to do 1990s.
Breakdancing
Windmills
~50min
Left hand pushing along the ground, forcing the left leg especially to stay straight, and keeping abs tight helped a lot.
Forearm headspin
~75min
For some reason this is easier to do if I go into the headstand from footwork as opposed to setting up the headstand directly and doing the move from there. I worked on making that transition smoother today, and, of course, spinning for longer.
best: a little over 9/8 (from footwork)
Was consistently getting at least full turns, though.
Windmills
~75min
My shoulders were bruised from practicing these yesterday. Every time I went for a re-stab I felt those bony upper body protrusions dig into the ground, smashing said bruise into the ground, ow. So that’s my excuse for no PR today.
But I did learn if I keep my right arm tucked in to my body, re-stabbing is easier and I have zero chance of grabbing my shoe, which actually did happen sometimes.
Handstands
2x2, 1
best: 58sec
I don’t know why I started sucking at these.
Handstand walk
one.
best: went down and back, matching a previous PR for this.
Breakdancing
Spent 40 minutes to learn this little treat here. Pardon the shirtless, if I sweat in my normal t-shirt it gets all baggy and long and gets in my way.
Breakdancing
1990s ~50min
Head tucked, look behind. Hand planted on the ground directly under crotch. These cues helped me get 4-5 consecutive 3/4 spins. Nothing crazy but it looks like the cues helped.
I don’t know whether to do good mornings or back raises next cycle. Either way, it’ll be 6x10 (or 3x10 of each) to replace the 6x10 deadlift and 6x10 squat (on their respective days), done after the 5x6 clean/front squat of those days.
Good mornings would probably make my ass stronger, too. But with back raises I’d be hitting the low back directly, which is why I’m doing them anyways, so I think either back raises or half/half.
Finally: 3 cycles down, 7 to go before I test my new maxes. Just another stepping stone to greatness.
Breakdancer marrot represents his home area. Examine it like so:
Warmup
~10min
Some front handsprings. Putting the head into the motion - looking behind me while doing it - helped a lot to turn the flopping into landing.
Forearm headspin
~80min
Practiced slowly from footwork, got some good ones, will have to transition faster. I did just a couple at “normal speed” (no pauses, no slow-motion footwork) and got some ugly full turns. Mostly slow practice though.
Windmills
~85min
best: clean 5-6
Rotate the body around on the collapse. Getting better at keeping legs straight, but they aren’t keeping wide enough. Confident these were still the best looking ones I’ve ever done though.
Handstands
1x2
best: 80sec
Back in business with these. My PR is 84.
Handstandwalk
1x2
best: a little over 1 lap (PR)
A “lap” would be going down and back. So yeah, good deal on that today.
No big changes this week, numbers just going back and forth as usual which is just fine with me, I just want to get strong for my bodyweight.
Changes for this cycle:
Deadlift day:
Deadlift 5/3/1
Cleans 5x6
Back raises 6x10 (instead of light deadlifts 6x10)
Squat day:
Squat 5/3/1
Front squat 5x6
Back raises 6x10 (instead of light squats 6x10)
Everything else is the same. Just did this so I can directly make my low back stronger, since I felt it round more than I ever felt it round before while I was doing deadlift and squat just this week. I thought about good mornings but as Jim Wendler says in the e-book, “Back raises are like strict good mornings without the politics.” When I do back raises I know I hit the low back and nothing else steps in to take load off of it.
I’ll also get to go heavier on cleans and front squats, so that’s good too.
Clean
1x6 - 190
1x4+1S:F - 190 - I took some extra time at the bottom to get stable, the guy spotting me thought I was stuck and grabbed me up.
1x6 - 185
1x3:F - 185
1x6 - 180
Back raise
1x10 - 30
1x10 - 45
This exercise was too awkward to load and I didn’t feel my low back getting directly hit at all. So…
Good morning
1x10 - 95
1x10 - 115
2x10 - 135 - That’s more like it.
I’m just going to have to suck it up and start doing good mornings again, but correctly this time.
Left DB bulg
1x10 - 55s
1x10 - 60s
1x10 - 65s
Breakdancing
1990s ~10min
Legs close, hands in the middle helps. Got ones that were better than before.
Overhead press
5x90
5x100
10x115 - Beat 10x115(16,2) since I used a little body english that time. I hate to play these games with “PR by form”, though - every rep should be the same.
Breakdancing
1990s ~20min
Planting the hand on the ground directly between feet (right in the middle) definitely helps, starting to make slow progress.
Forearm headspin
~70min
best: a little over 11/8
~5/4 from footwork
Forcing the neck and traps to stay tight really helped.
I get some where I roll forwards out of the spin, I would like to harness this mistake and turn it into an ability so I can use it to launch into footwork or any other new move really.
Windmills
~75min
best: clean 4, clean 4 from footwork.
LEGS. WIDE. Breathing normally also might help. My bests have gone down with these, but I’m convinced they’re looking better - sounds like it’s time to get a video.
Handstands
one.
Sucked. Maybe practicing 1990s yesterday messed me up here.
Handstand walk
one.
See handstands.
Finisher
Smith BB hold, 255 lbs
9sec, 13sec, 13sec
Squat
5x160
5x180
11x205 - Got weaker from 11x210(16,2) and I don’t know why. I don’t like the feeling of getting weaker after changing an assistance exercise… but I didn’t like the feeling of my back literally curving like a C last cycle either… No need to get all worked up about it now. Should give good mornings at least the whole cycle to see if they’ll at least help me keep my back straight when squatting.
Bench press
5x100
5x120
13x135 - Got weaker from 12x140(16,2). This and yesterday were a bitter way to end the week.
Bent-over row
1x10 - 200
1x9:F - 200
3x10 - 190
DB BP
3x6 - 65s
1x2:F - 65s
2x6 - 60s
DB hold, 2 towels
26sec,21sec,23sec - 130s
135s for this next week. Moving up in the world.
Breakdancing
Back somersault into forearm headstand
Can stall the headstand for a bit but couldn’t figure out how to hold it steadily today. Roll directly over the head (not the shoulder), point legs up helps.
Breakdancing practice… I went in early today so I had extra time at the beginning to improve dat front handsprang.
Warmup
~10min
Front handsprings
~10min
Feet should land close to hands to minimize chances of landing on the knees.
Forearm headspin
~90min
best: ~5/4 from footwork (hard to “measure” exactly because I get a little disoriented as to what angle I start at on these)
Completely relaxing abs while tensing the low back might help.
Windmills
~65min
best: clean 6
LEGS WIDE AND STRAIGHT. Sweep with right leg for the collapse, sweep with left leg for the re-stab. Took a video. It was shit compared to what I thought it would be. The set after went better with keeping the legs from bending IMO but I didn’t get a video of that one.
I started focusing on drinking more water, something I’ve always been lazy about. I think that’s why my waist measurement dropped so much this week. Also, my leg difference fell from 1-1/4" (cycle 14, week 4) to 7/8" (now), so that’s good. And now that I think about it I don’t remember my left knee caving in more than my right knee (like it used to) while I was doing squats this week.
Hey man, awesome progress. You are very diligent. I wish I could say the same about me. I’m about your height but like 7 pounds lighter. Right now I’m doing 5x10 for a set weight but I used to do 5/3/1. I guess anything will work if you do it long enough. Keep up the good work.
So basically I performed worse on deadlifts AND cleans since doing good mornings last week. Now, while other lifts were screwy and unreliable in PRs, progress in the deadlift was one thing I could pretty much always count on. The deadlift rep-out set is also honestly the most exciting thing that I do all week, since I don’t need any technique except breathing deep and squeezing my ass - it’s just me and the weight.
So you can understand why I made the impromptu decision to kick good mornings to the curb after I got to this point in the training session - especially since my progress was always steady in both lower body lifts before I added in good mornings anyways.
As for keeping my back straight, I don’t need good mornings for that. My problem is I’ve been breathing out on the concentric for deadlift and squat, which makes me lose that stabilizing tightness holding my back upright, at least according to dat 5/3/1 e-book.
Left DB bulg
1x10 - 60s
1x7:F - 60s
1x10 - 55s
…and no time for breakdancing. So today was really just a shit day.
Thanks for the input! It’s always a nice surprise when someone other than me posts here.
Schedule troubles made me do about half my training at around 12:30 p.m. (OHP, DB OHP, and pull-ups) and the other half at around 4:30 p.m. (Dips). So performance on dips was a lot better since I was fresh for them. I’ll do this more if I get the chance.
12:30 p.m.
Overhead press
3x95
3x110
8x120 - Can’t compare to any recent previous PRs. I got this same PR in 15,3.
DB OHP
2x6 - 55s
1x1:F - 55s
3x6 - 50s
Pull-ups
6,4,4 - BW
4:30 p.m.
Dips
2x6 - +35
1x4:F - +35
2x6 - +25
Breakdancing
Roll back into forearm headstand
~30min (total time between the two half-sessions)
Roll directly over the head, NOT over a shoulder. Tense legs straight up, plant forearms just as if doing a forearm headstand. Got some that were solid stalls, but none yet that could be held indefinitely.
Breakdancing practice, and the best one in a while I might add.
Warmup
~10min
Forearm headspin
~80min
best: a little over 7/4 turn (PR)
Also worked on getting into them more quickly from footwork. Can reliably do 360 spins from footwork.
Also worked on rolling back into a forearm headstand. No perfect ones yet, but most of them are short stalls on my head.
Tense neck, keep legs low.
Windmills
~75min
best: clean 6
Got a LOT better at legs wide and straight. They look a LOT better. Now go faster. After this set I practiced some more quick ones and some from footwork, but didn’t get any more videos. Don’t care about the amount as much as whether they look good anymore.
Handstands
1x3, sucked
Handstand walk
one, sucked
Should leave more than 5 minutes for these.
Squat
3x170
3x195
8x220 - Beat previous 7x220(16,3). Holding my breath in my gut on the way up helps my keep my back straight. In the 7x220 previous my back rounded a lot because I exhaled going up, I could feel things bending not the way they were supposed to. But I hold my breath going up and I still round a little, but not nearly as bad as it used to be.
