I had a fantastic 4-day break this past holiday weekend. My girlfriend and I drove 8 hours up the coast to our favorite campground. Lucked into a walk-in spot and basically lounged around 72 hours. Caught up on some much needed sleep; had 8+ hours for the first time since March.
The negatives of course being that I had a few beers everyday and didn’t do much physical activity. In general the diet wasn’t terrible, but a huge change from the routine. Not gonna dwell on it, just hoping it helped my body reset and will hit the weights fresh tonight.
Switching over to low bar for the next couple of months. I was my strongest when doing low bar, but haven’t tried them in my oly shoes. Will see where I’m at with them tonight. Aiming for 3 sets of heavy triples and then (maybe) the 50 reps of 185.
Low Bar Squat w/ belt 315 lbs 1x1, 365 lbs 1x1, 375 lbs 1x1, 385 lbs 1x1, 315 lbs 3x3 Bench 275 lbs 1x1, 295 lbs 2x1, 225 lbs 1x12 Hip Thrusts 135 lbs 1x20 Seated Leg Extension TUT 2x20 Hyperextension BW 2x20 Standing DB Single Arm Press 55 lbs 1x12 Weighted Ab Work Cable Lateral Raises
Felt pretty good with the low bar squats. It’s been a few years since doing them, but form felt more smooth than before (still in a state of perpetual improvement, of course), which I credit to building up my weak points (which are still weak af). Depth was decent, but I’ll look on getting a video up sometime. 385 flew up pretty quick. I think I could probably get the four plates by the end of May, if not sooner. Heck, probably could have grinded it out with shit form yesterday. That said, I totally forgot how much high reps suck for me with low bar, so there was no way I was doing the 50 reps today. Looks like I have left myself with little choice but to suck it up and do the 185x50 later this week.
I think I had five singles of 295 in me for the bench, but I didn’t want to kill the CNS. Just keeping the frequency of the bench high with low volume to maintain my strength as I focus on my squat and deadlift volume.
I’ll try remember to check my bodyweight tomorrow in the AM. My thought is I’m closer to 180 than 175 right now.
Decent workout, but lower back was taxed from the previous day, so I used the belt even though that’s weight I’ve done beltless. I’m the bum for not waving like Mark recommended, but since I had taken so much time off, I wanted to get some deadlift volume in. Luckily the back feels okay today. Sleep has been garbage since coming back from camping (5.5 hours, 4.5 hours past two nights). Have had to compensate with naps, which just starts a vicious cycle. In 2 weeks I’m flying out to Florida for 5 days, so I’m trying to program with that in mind (I might be able to workout a bit while there, but not planning on it).
Yesterday was a much needed day off to focus on recovery/getting to bed early. Weighed in this morning a bit lighter than I had expected. Trying to not weigh myself too often (maybe every 1-2 weeks). Letting the mirror and soreness guide my diet. I don’t think I’ve changed much visually in recent weeks, but the strength keeps coming back. Hopefully it’s not happening in spite of my diet/program. Working until 7ish tonight, but will do my best to hit up the gym after.
Well, surprise, I actually made it to the gym twice.
I had an extended break during the day, so I decided to checkout a gym in the area where I work (a disgustingly affluent county, so no way I’d ever get a membership there). Faked my interest into a one-day free pass, and did a quickie of the following:
Low Bar Squat 225 lbs 1x3 Deadstop Bench 275 lbs 5x1 Single Arm DB Bench 75 lbs, 2x12
My quads started cramping on the squats. Not sure why after since I even had a full day off yesterday and hadn’t squatted since Tuesday, but didn’t want to push it. My upper back is still bruised from doing heavy low bar for the first time on Tuesday. With the quads out of commission decided I better push it heavy on the bench. Deadstops really help build up my confidence. The bougie gym topped out at 75 lbs on the dumbells, so that’s what I went with on the single arms. Was in and out in 20 minutes.
DB Bench 100 lbs 4x8 High Bar Squat 185 lbs 1x28, 1x17, 1x5 w/ pause Hip Thrusts 135 lbs 2x20
Went to my usual gym for the evening workout. Someone was in the squat rack, so I added in some extra dumbbell volume. Then I decided fuck it, let’s try see if I can get the 50 reps tonight. Probably was too ambitious since it was the second workout of a two-a-day (not to mention the quads had just cramped up earlier in the day), but I was still disappointed in myself. I called it at 28 reps because my form started to get sloppy and the lower back was becoming the limiting factor. Not getting the 50 was fine; I’ll get it soon. But what really felt like a let down was I decided to try hit 50 in 2 sets (all I needed was 22). I only got up to 17 before racking it. Lower back was hurting. Form deteriorating. More than anything, I felt mentally weak. I decided to hit the final five reps with pauses simply to affirm that my body had it in me. Disappointing.
To keep myself accountable, I took some vids. I realized, unfortunately, that I only had my wired earphones, which meant I couldn’t listen to my music. Certainly doesn’t help when attempting a mental challenge, but hardly an excuse. I couldn’t get a great angle, but any feedback on form is always welcome.
I agree with @IronOne on the belt. A belt can help with your bracing. Bracing is important for injury prevention. I’d go with a belt for something like this. It’s not about the weight; it’s the fatigue.
Idk what I was thinking honestly. Lifting as if I had something to prove to myself. If I had forced it definitely would have gotten injured, so glad I called it. Honestly, with the belt I feel pretty confident I can get it in the next few days before the end of the month. I don’t want to totally throw off my programming, so will still do a heavy squat day before my second attempt. Perhaps it can be a year-end goal to be able to do it beltless.
Sounds good. I just feel/felt compelled because of my arbitrary, self-imposed deadline of April. And mainly recorded the videos to hold myself accountable. Will see where I’m at heading into this next week and maybe aim for 35-40.
Conventional Deadlift w/ belt 405 lbs 3x1 OHP 185 lbs 2x1 Pull Up +75 lbs 8x3 Chest Supported Row Standing Arnold Press 45 lbs 2x12 Curl + Press Complex
Well I hit that four plate conventional pull much sooner than expected. I was working on using a new cue to keep my back in ideal position and damn bracing felt on point. Speed off the ground was better than I’ve ever felt with conventional. Pretty sure I had 425+ lbs in me today, which I was especially surprised by since I blasted my quads + glutes pretty good yesterday (guess that means I didn’t go hard enough).
The bad news is as I was loading on the fourth plate, I totally smashed the tip of my right middle-finger (above the distal knuckle, so luckily can still move it fine). I simply wasn’t paying attention. I’ve had similar injuries before, but this time I’m pretty sure I fractured it. Still was able to hit the three singles and continue on with my workout but damn. No bueno. Need to be more careful with the nonsensical, lazy injuries.
Being hyped off of how good the pulls felt despite my finger, I decided to try see how much I could push the OHP. I hadn’t gone heavy on it since hitting 175 for a lifetime PR about a month ago. Loaded up the 185 and hell yeahhhhh went up quick for the first single. The second one was a bit of a grinder, but hitting two of those really had me feeling good. I think hitting two plates with it sometime this year is a possibility.
Low Bar Squat w/ belt 365 lbs 5x1, 315 lbs 1x8 Sumo SL w/ belt 405 lbs 4x1 Conventional DL w/ belt 315 lbs 1x10 Pull Ups 1x12 Chest Supported Row Abductor Machine Curl Kine Tings Bodyweight Split Squat 1x20 each side
Yesterday went fairly well. The lone squat rack at the gym isn’t at an ideal height for my low bar. It makes unracking/re-racking anything over 85% for me a bit precarious. Originally I was hoping to hit doubles of 365, but I just didn’t feel comfortable doing it in that rack just yet. I was content hitting the 8 reps on 315. I am hoping to do a 4x8 with 275+ later this week.
It was tempting to go heavier on sumo, but stuck with the four plates. Did an extra single for good measure though. The 10 reps (stop and reset between reps) of conventional at 315 was definitely a rep PR. I have never typically done high rep deadlifts with anything heavier than 2 plates. Since I had my belt, I felt comfortable pushing it a bit, and that cue I started using last week has really upped my confidence with bracing on conventional.
More than anything, I was pleased that I didn’t do any pressing movements. These past weeks I’ve really gotten carried away and done full-body workouts. I’m excited to go heavy on the bench today and hit some volume overhead. We’ll see how it goes.
Haha shoot, I definitely got lightheaded. I’d probably pass out before yakking.
The girlfriend wants us to do a HIIT boxing class tomorrow, so I’m trying to program around that. Depending how hard I push myself, I could definitely get nauseous.
Bench 300 lbs 1x1, 275 lbs 8x3, 1x2 Single Arm Dumbbell Bench 100 lbs 3X5 each side Dips BW 3x20 KB Floor Presses 54 lbs 3x10 Single Leg Glute Bridges
Took it really easy today on the shoulders/tris since I’m doing the boxing class tomorrow. I’ll see how the class goes and add in some overhead work afterward depending on how I feel. The weight moved slow today, which I was a bit frustrated by. I was planning on doing 5 singles of 300, but after the first one decided against it. the 8x3 of 275 is progress, so I’ll take it. The single arm presses with 100 lbs sure was a workout for my core. The great kind of pain. My gym sold their 110 lbs DBs a little while ago, so I’m trying to do what I can to make the most out of the 100s. I’m hoping to work my way up to 3x10 on the single arms.
Conventional Deadlift 405 lbs 4x1 Clean and Press 135 lbs 4x8 Close Grip Bench w/ pause 1 in. from chest 225 lbs 4x6 Pull Ups BW 3x10 Split Squats BW 1x20 each side Shoulders, Bis, and Tris Light Volume
The lady got held late at work, so we were unable to make it to boxing. I work late today, so definitely not going today either. The positive to that is I was able to go heavy last night instead. Conventional has really been feeling good, especially when I use the belt. Beltless I was grinding out 385 lbs as a single with shit form a few weeks ago. All the singles last night were solid, although the last one was pretty slow off the ground, which is why I didn’t go for a fifth. I think I can get up to pulling 455 w/ a belt for a few singles by the end of summer if I’m smart about it. This would be a conventional PR for me and would be closing in on my best pulls with sumo. Overall, I’m very pleased. Hopefully my squat hasn’t taken too much of a backseat to all of my recent pulling volume.
When are you going to film yourself benching 315 and just put me out of my misery? I had a chance to beat you last June but my shoulder was starting to act up so I gave it a rest. I’m scheduled for surgery June 5th so I’m pretty much done for the year. It’ll be 3 months before I’m released and who knows how long to get back to full strength. I guess there’s a chance I could get back to the 300 range by December (3 months healing and 3+ months of rebuilding). But I was 240 when I put up 305; I’m planning to stay in this 210-220 lb range.
haha good work
good job