Lo/Rez: From CGA to EGA

Training Training Logs
41

[quote]LoRez wrote:

As far as running: Fortunately I ran with a good team in high school, with great coaching, so I actually have a decent idea how to train for that. What I’m not sure of is how this will work with lifting. It might work really well, and it might not. Obviously will need more food, but I really have no idea how the “muscle” recovery is going to work with the “endurance” recovery. I know I couldn’t train for sprinting and lifting concurrently, but I just don’t know about distance.

I have exercise-induced asthma. I didn’t know it back in high school, but it killed me during competition (figuratively). It didn’t seem to show up much during training though, so the coaches never noticed. Now that I have an inhaler, this should no longer be an issue.

Running training though, is going to be broken up roughly like this:

  • speed work: ~600-1200m work, at much faster than race pace, with lots of rest between each
  • paced distance work: 5-8 mile runs, slightly slower than race pace, but still fairly hard runs
  • recovery capacity: intervals, faster than race pace, but slower than speed work, with shortened rest periods
  • general aerobic work: not really caring about speed, and this can double as recovery work; could be bike or rower or whatever

Goal is to get faster in the first three over the last time I trained it, every session.

I may arrange this roughly like we used to in-season.

[/quote]

Those look like some solid running workouts, and I’m sure you’ll have no trouble putting in a good 5k after that kind of training.

And I agree with you, fitting in the lifting around that will be the hard part. I’ll be curious to see how it goes for you.

42

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]emskee wrote:
By “his” you mean “of kgildner” right?
[/quote]
Ha.

It would be nice if you started a log back up though. Your perspective and experience is nice to have around here.[/quote]

Thanks for you to say as much.

I’m thinking about it.

If only I knew which 5% to leave unwritten…

43

Instead of going to the gym yesterday, I visited that plumbing supply house and got two lengths of pipe for farmers walk handles. They’re closer to 6 foot than 5 foot, and they’re not the same length, but it’s workable. I also found a McMaster-Carr part online that should work very well as a collar.

From the product description: “Slide a collar onto your shaft and tighten.”

One of the manufacturers is Climax Industries.

Coincidence?

I also took my fat bar wrist roller and put it through my gymnastic rings, so now I have a mounted wrist roller.

Mounted Wrist Roller
Sets of 3 with 40 lbs. Both flexion and extension.
One or two sets with 50 lbs.

44

And today’s training. Finally found a good time on a Tuesday, where there was a rack.

Guy next to me while warming up was squatting with 95, in designer gym clothes, grunting loudly. Reminded me of the people who think “dressing and acting like a runner” makes you a runner.

The look on his face when he saw me overhead pressing more than he was squatting was priceless though.

Commercial Gym Barbell Press from Rack
45 x 8
50 x 8
55 x 8
60 x 8
“power”: 100 x 8 x 3
“mass”: 80 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
“flush”: 70 x 10

And there’s the last session before bumping the weight up. This, like every other session with this routine, was pretty hard. Somewhat shortened rest periods this time.

The results afterwards, in the mirror, are very nice though. The “power” part hasn’t gotten any easier, but the “mass” section gets easier every session. I mean, it’s working, but it’s hard work.

Wrists and “core” are a lot more stable too, compared to my first sessions.

Unilateral Tricep Pushdowns, Right then Left
0 plates x 10
1 plate x lots of sets x 5-8

This seems to be getting a bit better. Arms are evening out some it seems.

45

Ring Dips
bw x some
15lb x 4, 3, 3, 2, 1

Mounted Axle Wrist Roller
extension: 3 x 40
flexion: 4 x 40
extension: 2 x 42.5
flexion: 2 x 42.5

I always feel extremely powerful after finishing sets of both the ring dips and the wrist roller. It’s really kind of a neat feeling.

I’ve been thinking about a comment I read in one of those books, that one should endeavor to make the wrists as strong as possible instead of using wrist wraps. When I added wrist wraps, I was finally able to bench with minimal elbow pain. I think part of the problem was I just have weak wrists, and the compensations at the wrist goes up the chain to aggravate issues with my elbow.

The rings (both pullups and dips), and the wrist roller seem to be addressing a lot of stability issues around joints. I’m expecting/hoping that farmers walks, and maybe some heavy short ROM pin squats, will help do the same in some other places.

In other news, I’m continuing to work pullovers, and changing my breathing patterns to be more in my chest and less in my belly. This is the exact opposite of most “eastern” schools of thought, but I’m finding that a somewhat larger rib-box provides a more stable base for most upper body work. I’ve noticed some tangible changes just in a week or so of doing this.

46

Ring Dips
bw x some
15lb x 4, 4, 3, 2, 1

My ego is struggling a bit with my current training methods. Nearly everything I’m doing these days is about slow but steady progression. I understand, conceptually, that all I really need to do is what it takes to keep this up.

But I really want to just move faster than this, or at least, to push the envelope a little more.

47

This morning:

Mounted Axle Wrist Roller
extension: 3 x 42.5
(short rest)
flexion: 3 x 42.5
(long rest)
extension: 3 x 42.5
(short rest)
flexion: 3 x 42.5

These are going well. Grip seems more solid, plenty of forearm pump, and plenty of willpower and squeezing the bar is required.

This afternoon:

Commercial Gym Barbell Press from Rack
45 x 8
50 x 8
55 x 8
60 x 8
“power”: 105 x 1 x 3; 105 x 7 x 2 (or maybe 8 sets of 2, I lost count)
“mass”: 85 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
“flush”: 60 x 10

Frankly I was a bit intimidated of the 5lb bump in weight. Nothing to be worried about it seems. It wasn’t that 105 was exactly intimidating, but rather that 100 was harder than I thought it would be, when run through this program. Still was plenty of work. Still 19 total sets.

Olympic Lifter guy worked in during the last couple “mass” sets, which he just used to warmup. Kind of scary amount of muscle on the guy.

Unilateral Tricep Pushdowns, Right then Left
0 plates x a couple sets x 10
1 plate x several sets x 5-8

Right elbow is hurting a bit. Called these short because of that.

Ring Dips
bw x some
15lb x 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

These were interesting after doing all the other stuff. I felt it in places I don’t normally… like my traps. Can’t explain that, but at this point, rings are like magic anyway. So much stuff involved keeping you stable.

48


Front

49

537×668 74.2 KB

Back

50

Last session at the commercial gym. Technically I can go tomorrow… but eh.

No rack was available today either, but there was a barbell over there by the racks, so I basically lifted with Oly lifter guy and another couple guys working out in the racks. Oly lifter guy worked up to a couple easy singles at 405, then pause squats at 315.

Commercial Gym Barbell Press from Rack
45 x 8
55 x 8
55 x 8
“power”: 105 x 2 x 3; 105 x 6 x 2
“mass”: 85 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
“flush”: 65 x 10

Oly guy commented on my low back extension, cautioning me to be careful and figure out what’s going on with that. He said it could be a weak core, or just bad shoulder mobility. He said it was especially bad with heavier sets. He showed me a couple stretches to work on.

Overall, this was a pretty easy press workout.

Deadlifts
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 2
335 x 2 x 1
365 x 3 x 1
315 x 5
275 x 5
185 x 5

Oly guy, after seeing me pull 365 relatively easily, commented that my back is clearly strong enough, so it’s probably just shoulder mobility. I’m inclined to agree.

Overall good workout though. It’s funny, my last day at the gym was the first time I enjoyed it over training alone.

51

Also, last night (Mar-30), I did a few sets with the wrist roller.

612×816 679 KB

Supported Axle Wrist Roller
extension: 45 x 2
flexion: 45 x 2
(medium rest)
extension: 45 x 2
flexion: 45 x 2

These were surprisingly easy. 42.5 was kind of hard, but a couple days rest and 45 becomes easy. Beginner gains.

At this point, at all of a week in, I highly recommend these.

On a probably related note, I had no wrist pain at all during the press session yesterday (which was a normal thing, until yesterday), and I had zero problem hook-gripping 365 for those singles.

52

Axle Zercher Deadlifts
115 x 1
165 x 1
205 x 1
225 x 1 - elbows outside knees
225 x 1 - elbows between knees

Tried these again. My grip has definitely improved. I don’t think I could lift much over 165 with an axle last time I tried.

These are a miserable lift though. I’m probably going to add these in somewhere, along with the mat pulls. They seem to be something along the lines of a brute-forced front squat, and leverage-wise, they seem not too dissimilar from a safety-bar squat, but I’ve never done the latter.

Supported Axle Wrist Roller
extension: 47.5 x 2
flexion: 47.5 x 2
(rest)
extension: 47.5 x 2
flexion: 47.5 x 2

These were not so easy this time. I’ll do this again next time, maybe with another set or two.

Ring Chinups
bw x 2 x 3
20 x 3, 3, 2, 1

I apparently forgot to record the last session of these. It was a few days ago though. I’ve been slacking because of my left scapula stuff.

I may move to adding reps for awhile instead of weight. But I need to get back into doing these frequently, since my body seems to have lost the groove a bit.

I could just need to ramp my warmups a bit too.

Ring Dips
BW x 3

Not feeling this today. Pullups did a number to my arms and shoulder girdle.

53

Shoulder girdle was still all weird today.

First real lifting session in my own gym in over a month. Got my rack assembled awhile back, but hadn’t used it. Still don’t have great access on the sides to get plates on and off, but I made do.

Axle Press from Rack
20 x 8
40 x 8
60 x 3
70 x 1
90 x 1
110 x 1
130 x 0, 0 – two attempts, halfway on the first, then nothing

  • wraps
    105 x 3 x 3; 105 x 5 x 2
    85 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
    65 x 10

Decided to try for a max, just because. Just trying to relearn the axle. Not even sure about my grip width right now either. I got a bit used to having a mirror.

Either way, I’m back to using my own gym. Other than my stupid bench, it’s nice to have my rack now.

This was kind of a marathon session though, 23 sets, and many of them actually fairly heavy.

54

Ring Chinups
bw x 2 x 3
10 x 3
20 x 4, 3, 2, 1

These felt a lot better than I expected. My left scapula seems to be getting better.

Mounted Axle Wrist Roller
extension: 47.5 x 2
flexion: 47.5 x 2
(rest)
extension: 47.5 x 2
flexion: 47.5 x 2
(rest)
extension: 47.5 x 2
flexion: 47.5 x 2

3 total sets this time. Might bump up to 50 on Monday, might just add more work. These aren’t quite feeling easy yet.

55

The supported axle wrist roller looks interesting. I use one every now and then as sort of prehab at the climbing gym but I like the idea of adding much more weight by focusing more on the rotation, not the suspension.

56

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
The supported axle wrist roller looks interesting. I use one every now and then as sort of prehab at the climbing gym but I like the idea of adding much more weight by focusing more on the rotation, not the suspension. [/quote]
Yeah, I’m liking it so far. Kind of adapted the idea from some stuff I saw in grip videos. I guess there was some traditional lift that involved lifting the mast of a ship by winding up a rope like that, or something like that. Read it somewhere.

I saw this video posted by FlatsFarmer in some thread a bit back.

Also this:

57

Overhead Squats
40 x a couple
60 x a couple
70 x a couple

I haven’t ever really done these, and based on how they felt, they felt like something I need to be doing. Alpha suggested working up to these as a way to help with overhead stability, and given that my hips/core positioning seem to be the failure point of my overhead press, this should help improve that by maintaining an overhead hold while moving my hips through a large ROM.

From a squatting standpoint, this was very light, but from a mobility/balance standpoint, I need some work.

Axle Press from Rack
40 x 8
45 x 8
50 x 8
power: 105 x 4 x 3; 4 x 2 – the last set had two failures, but got it up after a small break
mass: 85 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
flush: 65 x 10

Was playing with a few things between sets, and some fatigue from the overhead squat warmup, or something. My last set of 2, I couldn’t get the bar to move. Two separate attempts failed completely on me. Got it on the third.

I realized I wasn’t being aggressive with the bar movement on my presses, and I think that’s hurt me. I’m trying to relearn how to apply maximum force. I think doing that in the earlier sets led to a loss of energy for the later sets.

Also, I need to modify my warmup for these a bit. I’m supposed to do 4 sets of 8, but it’s a big jump to go from 50 to 105. The first set at 105 is pretty hard because of it, but the later ones get better.

–

Over the weekend, I went out of town. My right elbow was acting up, popping painfully on occasion and just having limited ROM. I wasn’t able to fully straighten my arm, nor fully flex it. It’s a bit better after the pressing workout (I can touch my thumb to my elbow with some effort), but I definitely have some weird stuff going on in there. Tendons out of place, or bone spurs, or a swollen bursa, or something. My pediatrician girlfriend hasn’t been much help figuring this out, other than saying “yeah, it looks a bit swollen”.

I also think I’m going to switch my mat pulls to a 2x a week plan, since doing a heavy press workout + mat pulls in the same day is probably not going to work well. So far I haven’t even tried, but the press workout takes a lot out of me. Monday Thursday pressing, and Tuesday Friday mat pulling seems good.

58

[quote]LoRez wrote:
I also think I’m going to switch my mat pulls to a 2x a week plan, since doing a heavy press workout + mat pulls in the same day is probably not going to work well. So far I haven’t even tried, but the press workout takes a lot out of me. Monday Thursday pressing, and Tuesday Friday mat pulling seems good.[/quote]

Or not. It’s a nice short session, I might as well just do them daily.

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 1
345 x 5
315 x 5

I thought I was doing 330 for the top set, but realized after unloading it that I did 345. I’ve been loading my 90% set, then putting 15 on each side, and doing that for a single for the warmup. It’s a pretty easy setup.

Mat Pulls are just less taxing than deadlifts. I was feeling beat up a bit the last couple times I did deadlifts. And since the mat pulls clearly build my deadlift, I might as well keep with these.

Also, the bottom support beams of my rack put the barbell right around 18", so I should be able to do rack pulls from there and test how well that works. I’m curious how much the height difference gives me in weight.

–

I’ve also been doing a few overhead squats throughout the day with a 6’ axle bar. These are feeling better this afternoon than they did this morning, which was better than they did yesterday. Also read some stuff from Dan John and others about these. Sounds like it should be a good beneficial movement to become proficient at, for reasons other than strength or size.

–

Ring Dips
bw x 5, 4, 3, 2, 2

Going for volume instead of weight for a bit.

59

I lost consciousness while pressing today. Not quite enough to collapse, but enough to drop the bar on the pins, and to wake up to the very loud sound of the plates rattling around on the bar.

Clearly haven’t quite figured out this breathing and bracing thing yet when it comes to pressing.

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
65 x 8
power: 105 x 5 x 3; 105 x 3 x 2
mass: 85 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
flush: 65 x 10

Did unweighted overhead squats at home for some sets this morning. Then tried a few reps with my warmup weights. Lost positioning pretty quickly with 60 or 65.

Made sure to lift aggressively and explosively. Also visualized the “slide open a window and push yourself through it” cue. Worked on better bracing and torso positioning when unracking. Lost consciousness on my very last rep, so technically it was one and a half reps and another single.

Between some sets, put my wrists on the bar and leaned over forward to work on shoulder mobility. Pressed down, held, rest, repeat.

I made sure to rest a minimum of 2 mins between each power set. Just rested until “ready” for the others.

This was a pretty good session.

–

I think I’m just going to up the frequency of these to MWF instead of Mon-Thurs. I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to upper body work, since my shoulders and elbow have kept me from stuff for so long.

I keep toying with the idea of taking a very different approach with my press training, one built more around heavy partials, overhead supports, ROM training, slow eccentrics, etc… or even just going back to the near-daily 2x5 PttP routine for presses, since I did respond to that for the Z Presses.

On the other hand, visually, my shoulders and triceps are being built up well by training this way, so it’s working in that regard. I just feel like it’s a very very long and slow path this way.

If I were to stick to the 2.5lb increases, and 2x weekly, that’s a 15lb increase to working weight in 6 months.

With 5lb increases, and 3x weekly, that’s potentially a 45lb increase to working weight in 6 months. With 2.5lb increases, that’s 22.5lbs, which is still more than 15.

Anyway, still some variables to play with. I’m now pretty comfortable with the basic formula. Adding “just one rep” every session isn’t too big of a deal at this point.

60

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Lost consciousness on my very last rep, so technically it was one and a half reps and another single.[/quote]

If I’m reading this post correctly, you lost consciousness on OH squats so you’re planning to do them more often? This is the kind of balls and commitment to fighting weaknesses that I can’t help but applaud.