Lo/Rez: From CGA to EGA

Training Training Logs
181

It keeps warming up. 47 degrees today.

10" ROM (34" chain) PMT Axle Squats: 315 x 2 x 14

Actually ate before squatting, like an hour before. Didn’t like the way that felt much, but, timing with all the other stuff in my day made that happen.

Dropped the bar height 3 more inches. Dropped the reps by three.

Got thrown around for the entire first set, and the first half of the second set. It was kind of rough.

That extra 3 inches means that’s another 3" off the ground for things to move and start swinging. Again though, I think this is a good thing. The better my body gets at controlling highly unstable loads, the better it’s going to be at handling stable loads. Doesn’t necessarily work the other way around.

The nice thing about doing it this way is that the entire idea of “imbalances” doesn’t really make any sense, because every single rep has the weight loaded in yet another different imbalanced way. So the entire idea of “perfect form” is completely invalidated.

Definitely was harder today though than yesterday; not sure how much of that was because of the swinging and how much of that was just because of the increased ROM.

I didn’t use any albuterol today, and my whole exercise-induced asthma stuff was starting to creep in on the second set.

Also, to be completely fair, I’m feeling a very slight amount of something in my left knee, mostly outside of the gym. It’s not pain, and it’s not even uncomfortable, it’s just “there”. Zero pain or discomfort or anything in the gym.

182

And I was still feeling that all yesterday, and after the first rep or two today.

Felt bad enough that I thought lifting on it could possibly cause some serious damage if things went sideways (literally and figuratively). Was about to call it a day.

Then I walked away for a second, came back, and just stood and held the weight at the top for a count of 10, with a bit of swinging and stuff. Everything just tightened right up, and my knee felt fine.

Here’s my theory… deliberately introducing some instability to a joint causes everything to tighten up around it as a kind of natural protective measure. That increased muscular stability ensures that when the joint is exercised through a range of motion, that everything is firing as it should. Then by progressively increasing the ROM, everything is being trained to work in the right groove, and the body basically “relearns” how things are supposed to work.

I ran the idea past my doctor girlfriend/fiancee, and it seemed to make sense to her, so that’s probably close enough to what’s actually happening.

Anyway, so because things weren’t working “right” from the beginning today, I just introduced that instability to tighten everything up around the joint, and then it started working right again.

Even if it’s a completely BS theory, it actually worked.

Today. 47 degrees still. Pretty warm.

3 Mat Slight Decline Axle Bench - 125 x 5, 5, 10
10" ROM (34" chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x 14, 14

The bench went really well.

My left shoulder is still bugging me throughout the days, but two of those stretches from that book seem to help a lot. For the first, my arm is straight up and I’m facing the wall. I put my elbow against the wall, and I just put weight on it to stretch my upper arm vertically. Hold that for 30 seconds.

For the second, I’m in a doorway. My arm is straight out to the side, then bent at the elbow at a 90 degree angle with my hand pointing up. I put my forearm against the wall, and then lean forward, externally rotating my arm at the shoulder joint. Hold that for 30 seconds.

Did that earlier today, and had no issues with the bench and my shoulders.

As for the squats, the set started out as mentioned above. For each rep, I just made sure the weight was stable at the top before doing the next rep. It went slower, but it was under a lot more control. No issues with my knees or hips or back or anything.

First set was counted as: 5,4,3,2,1 5,4,3,2,1 4,3,2,1
Second set was counted as: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 7,6,5,4,3,2,1

Not sure which I like better.

I did wake up with a sore low back this morning, but I think that’s because of how I slept.

183

Farmers Walks (light) - 110 a side, 4 x 100’

First two sets were straight 100’ runs. Second two I dropped and turned at 50’.

I’m getting a better feel for picking up speed on these. The first (and last) time I did the lightweight run, I think the weight was too light. These were still really light, but heavy enough to get a feel of learning to move quickly with them.

I looked back to my log from Feb '14, when I was doing pin squats, and measured the height of the pin. At that point, I had a PR from Pin 6 of 315. I measured today, and Pin 6 is at 46".

I’m honestly not 100% sure what the current squat height is with the chain squats, but it’s somewhere between Pin 7 and 8, so something like 51" or 52".

In reading my log from then, I struggled a bit with letting it get to my head. In some ways I’ve made a lot of progress; in other ways I haven’t. For instance, my bodyweight is almost the exact same today as it was nearly 2 years ago. I look better for it, and I’m stronger by some measures.

Just feeling a bit mentally weak. Trying to interpret things in a constructive criticism way instead of an emotionally negative way.

Doing the farmers walks after that helped though.

Plus, all my current lifts have been constantly improving, and I’m looking better in the mirror, and I’m feeling better and so on and so forth.

Eh, whatever. I’m still doing what I need to do, so it’s kind of irrelevant whether or not I can get my emotions and mind working the way I want them to be.

184

Clearly I was feeling weirdly talkative about the past few sessions for some reason.

Slight Incline Axle Press (w/wraps) - 120 x 5,5,5
10" ROM (34" chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x (1,1) 14,14

  • a couple sets of hammer curls with the NG bar

Pinned myself on the last rep of the axle press; had to slide out sideways. Did those with wraps. Felt a lot better in the wrist and elbows with that, though possibly weaker.

Took a couple singles before I finally readjusted to the squats. Swinging picks up a bit during the sets, so I’m just getting better at staying tight. Adding another 3" of ROM tomorrow.

Although most everyone is still around, the new forum feels a lot more sterile and less collaborative. Can’t explain why.

185

That didn’t work as I expected.

Lowered the weight 3", and couldn’t budge it. Brought it back up 2" and could. Brought it down another and could, with more difficulty.

In total, lowered the weight 2", and just did a bunch of hard work.

PMT Axle Squats
13" ROM - 315 x 0, 0, 0, 00000000!
10" ROM - 315 x 1
11" ROM - 315 x 1, 1
12" ROM - 315 x 1, 6, 6, 4, 4

12" ROM is 32" of chain.

I may have done more singles in there. Maybe a double. Several 0s. Lots of 0s.

Even though I was supposed to do 2x11 with the 13" ROM length, I got a good training session out of it at 12".

In fact, I think this was probably the best squat training session I’ve ever had, ever. It forced me to move perfectly and pushed me hard, right at the edge where I need to be training.

186

Slept a long time, woke up with a sore low back. Think it’s the bed still, because I was good an hour after I got up.

Wide Neutral Grip Overhead Press - 92.5 x 5,5,7
12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 0, 4, 1
Narrow Neutral Grip Curls - 55 x F,F,F

Added 2.5 pounds but lost a rep on the + set. Started hyperextending the low back. Seems the squat workout from yesterday left me a bit weaker there.

Squats were more a matter of getting under the bar and doing something. I’m going to basically keep the progression going, but a bit differently than before. Goal at this height is 2 x 12. When I get that, then I can lower it however many inches and drop however many reps.

The failure point today was first, rounding the upper back, and secondly, losing stability in the lower back. Better breathing/bracing helps, but I can’t maintain it for long yet.

Knees are feeling pretty good now though. Yesterday’s session seemed to teach them how they’re supposed to work.

–

Stupid formula for the goal reps at a given height:

number of inches of chain - 20 = goal reps for 2 sets

At 37" of chain, it was 2x17. At 34" it was 2x14. Now, at 32", it’s 2x12.

187

You have a memory foam mattress by chance? I noticed sleeping on one of those can aggravate injuries for me.

Good on you for grinding out the workout. Sometimes, that’s all we can do.

188

Congratulations.

On this, and on the other progress in your life.

One of the reasons I use this site is to to see the success of people like yourself, so congratulations. I’ve always been told that you become the sum of the people you spend the most time around, so I figure the more time I can spend on logs like yours, Th3Pwnishers, Alphas, MarkKO’s etc., the more I can counteract that.

189

Thank you for the compliment, but I definitely don’t belong in that company. But that’s exactly why I try to spend the majority of my time on this site in their logs. I just hope I’m not dragging them down too badly :wink:

190

No, no memory foam. Really, her mattress is just too soft for me I think. Or I’m sleeping on my side more or something. Don’t really know for sure.

I think it’s probably a combination of the bed and that I’m beating up new parts of my back. I have a feeling it’ll all settle down in a week or two, since I’m sending constant “adapt or die” signals to it.

191

43 degrees, rainy, dark

12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 0, 5, 5, 7, 7 (24 total reps)

I think I figured this out. I just need(ed) to relearn how to squat.

Until now, I’d been able to move the bar primarily with my quads, but I’m now at an angle where that’s not working any more. The first three reps of the first set of 5 were hard to get up, but then the last two were really easy. Had a similar experience on the next set of 5.

Then I think I figured it out.

If I just focus on pushing my hips forward (rather than squatting up), it’s a lot easier. I’m still running into some issues maintaining tightness and balance in my back, which is why that set ended at 7 reps rather than making it to the full 12. (Also had an issue where the bar almost slid off my back with the swinging.)

I’m going to stay at this weight and get 24 reps in until I can get that to 2 x 12. And stick with that until I get three days of 2 x 12. And then drop the weight and reps and repeat.

Regardless of whether i’m “doing the program” right or not, I’m learning things I needed to learn if my squat was ever going to go anywhere again.

192

Man, as soon as you mentioned needing a different form I realized how true that is. It’s something that I discovered too but just plain forgot to even consider. When the bar is high enough, you can already get your hips under your shoulders to start with and really just quad squat it up, but just like you noticed, once it gets low, you really need to roll the hips into it.

You’re definitely getting a lot out of this program just from my outside observation. Great stuff dude.

193

It’s always nice to know it’s not just me, lol.

I did not wake up with a sore low back today. Which was nice.

3 Mat Decline Axle Bench - 130 x 5, 5, 10 (wraps on last set)
12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x 4, 9, 11 (24 total reps)
Narrow Neutral Grip Curls - 55 x F, F

Decline keeps going up, hitting 10 on the last set every time, and keep adding 5. Seems I’m getting adjusted to doing this with an axle instead of a bar.

I can’t really explain what happened with the squats, except that something clicked mentally and physically to make that work. I couldn’t have gotten 5 reps on the first set if I wanted to. I thought this was going to go something like 6 sets of 4 or whatever. And then I was able to get 9, but not 10. And then I got 11, and could have kept going.

Whatever. It’s looking like 2 x 12 will be here early next week.

Farmer’s Walks tomorrow or Sunday, if the weather cooperates. I want it to be tomorrow, but I’ve got stuff going on from 10am until midnight or so, so we’ll see how that fits in.

194

Hey man just returning the favor and check in on your log

I see you’re still doing the range of motion progression but now on squats very unconventional cool to see you getting it done in a different way you have some pretty neat equipment

With that said you are putting 3:15 on your back nearly all the time which is incredible. Looks like a ton of core stability

With the sleeping and soRe back connection or maybe even just stiffness. I too have had some issues and what has helped me is basically sleeping in a fetal position legs together knees to chest and then flip flop sides throughout the night also some people claim a pillow between the legs helps to. Another thing to consider is if you are sharing a bed it is probably big enough that its sags in the middle which may not even be visible to the eye but all through the night is pulling you in that direction I found this with my bed and basically reinforce the middle and it helped a lot

195

You know, I actually hadn’t done any ROM progression stuff… or squats… since about the time we sort of lost touch, back in Spring 2014. Figured it’s about time to actually start squatting again. And to finally work up to that double bodyweight squat.

The core stability is exactly why I’m doing it. I was pushing overhead presses hard last year, and I started realizing (besides being a weak presser), that my core was giving out on me more than anything. What I’m doing now seems to be helping, although I really won’t know for sure until I try barbell overhead pressing again.

Thanks for the tip on the bed. I’ll have to look into whether the bed is sagging, and give that pillow-between-the-legs thing a chance.

196

Yesterday (Sunday). 47 degrees, light rain, puddles.

Farmer’s Walks (medium) - 140 per hand x 100’ (w/turn), 50’, 50’

These went well. Tried out a staggered stance, and realized that I move faster in sort of a semi-crouch than actually standing up fully. I’m definitely getting better at these, without really having to put much thought into it.

Twisted my left knee twice getting out of the car later that day. Seems to be fine today.

Did this in rain gear and hiking boots.

Today. 50 degrees.

Slight Incline Axle Press - 122.5 x 5, 5, 8
12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x 2 x 12
Narrow Neutral Grip Curls - 55 x F, F, F

Went back to my old slight-incline press form. Trying to tuck my elbows kept hurting my shoulder, and made me weaker. I spent months doing this in the past, and found form that worked for me then, so I just went back to doing that. It worked better. Used wraps.

Added 2.5 pounds and 3 reps over last week.

Got the 2x12 on the squats. Weights swung around a bit, but I was able to control them without having to stop mid-set. I went from struggling with a couple reps at this height, to being able to do sets of 12 pretty quickly (6 days).

I think I’m starting to get a handle on the mental side of things too. I seem to be able to push myself better now than before.

Today I printed out three photos of Kazuya Mishima, and I’m using them as inspiration. Had them on my desk all day, and then propped one of them up in the gym.

I feel a bit silly about it, but I’m questioning a lot of things right now. It seems I really don’t know how the mind works at all. This stuff wouldn’t resonate with me if there wasn’t something to it. If I can channel that into my lifting, so much the better.

197

652×1224 488 KB

943×1900 676 KB

700×1400 794 KB

198

Anyway…

Today, colder, 44 degrees.

12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x 3, 3, 5, 1, 12 (24 total reps)

The single was in there to hit 12 reps.

This did not go as smoothly as yesterday, obviously. I’m going to get at least two more 2x12 days before I increase the ROM. I may wait until I get 3 consecutive days, or may do it sooner.

As of today, I’ve done 400 partial reps with 315 on my back since January 1st. I may have miscounted a couple reps, but if that’s not exactly right, it’s pretty close. Technically I started this progression with 295, and I got 40 reps in there too, but 400 with 315.

199

Been checking out your log for a while man. I’m digging all the ROM progressions; really interested in seeing how it all works out for you!

200

TX_iron: Yeah, so am I. It’s been an interesting journey so far. Hopefully it actually works. I mean, it should but we’ll see.

Today. 44 or so.

Wide Neutral Grip Overhead Press - 95 x 5, 5, 8
12" ROM (32" Chain) PMT Axle Squats - 315 x 2 x 12
Narrow Neutral Grip Curls - 55 x 3 x F (19, 12, 8)

Presses still feel harder than I think they should; not really sure why. Added 2.5 pounds and 1 rep over last week though.

And, I got the squats again.

And, the curls seem to be increasing rapidly. May have to add some weight to the bar soon.