Lo/Rez: From CGA to EGA

Training Training Logs
61

[quote]dagill2 wrote:

[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.[/quote]

Thanks, but nah, it happened on the pressing. I just wrote that badly; the overhead squats were interspersed with the press warmup, and then everything else there was about the pressing.

If I take in too much air, I seem to get lightheaded, regardless of the lift. Had it happen on squats and deadlifts too. I don’t know if this is a “normal” thing (it doesn’t sound like it, although I have heard about it in the clean and press), but there’s pretty much a sweet spot where I have a good amount of bracing without actually getting lightheaded. Just haven’t quite found that balance.

EDIT: that said, I’d have done exactly what you described if it happened with the overhead squats.

62

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
double overhand
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 2
straps
335 x 1
365 x 5
335 x 5

I was too lazy to actually add 15lbs to the bar, so I added 20. I’ll either add 10 or 20 next time. (Probably 20, then 20 again.)

Depending on how the pressing goes tomorrow (i.e., if 3x a week is too much), I’ll be pressing MWF, and mat pulling TR, and maybe TRS. Two mat pull sessions a week, with the two sets of 5, might not be enough work to push these up. Then again, the extra rest might be good for me. I’ll just watch the numbers and see what happens.

365x5 is pretty easy these days though. I’ll be giving 405 a whirl sometime next week or the next. Honestly though, I’m looking forward to 455, which should be roughly 3x bodyweight.

63

Multiple sets, multiple grips, OH squats with a bar at home this morning.

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8 (+ a couple OH squats)
50 x 8 (+ a couple OH squats)
60 x 8 (+ a couple OH squats)
70 x 8 (+ a failed OH squat)
power: 105 x 6 x 3; 105 x 2 x 2
mass: 85 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
(+ 1 attempted squat with 85; only made it about halfway down)
flush: 65 x 10

Much easier session than Wednesday. Looks like this frequency will work. It also “feels” right, for whatever reason. Probably due to all the frequency work I’ve done in the past. And more forceful reps just feel better too.

Doing lots of “open up my coracoacromial arch” work between sets. Basically, forearms on the bar, lean forward, torso tight, ribcage pulled down, and just push my body down to press my arms up as far up and behind my head as I can.

The idea behind the hanging work seemed sound, but I wasn’t getting there fast enough with that. I’m pretty much doing the same thing, putting the pressure in the same place, but intentionally applying a bit of force. Doing it this way also lets me make sure the pressure is in the right place (instead of elsewhere in the shoulder girdle).

Anyway, shoulders still hurt when pressing, mostly in the rack position, and they hurt after, but I’m not waking up with sore shoulders. It all seems to be going in the right direction.

Either way, it seems like my shoulder pain is no longer hindering progress.

Elbow pain though… I refrained from any wrist rolling, weighted dips, and pullups this week. That seemed to calm things down. Probably one or more of the above irritates things. I’m pretty sure I was dealing with a swollen bursa, if not more.

64

"Doing lots of ‘open up my coracoacromial arch’ work between sets. Basically, forearms on the bar, lean forward, torso tight, ribcage pulled down, and just push my body down to press my arms up as far up and behind my head as I can. "

hmmmmmm

Must try…

65

[quote]emskee wrote:
Must try…[/quote]
Yeah, it’s fun stuff.

Read some book by some guy (Dr. Kirsch) about how hanging from a pullup bar daily can help realign and open things up, including remodeling the actual bony structures. Lots of fancy xray and CT scans.

66

Unlike last time, my left shoulder was giving me hell for the past few days. Even painkillers weren’t making much of a dent. Right shoulder is doing pretty good.

Random mobility stuff over the past couple days:

  • lacrosse ball to the painful stuff along my spine around my scapulae
  • some new stretch I saw from a kstar video; basically the same thing as a thoracic extension over a foam roller, except you fix your arms underneath something – in my case, my couple-hundred pound buffet cabinet filled with liquor – and then drop your hips to stretch things
  • rolling my IT bands and adductors… with lots of painful grimaces
  • couch stretches of my hip flexors

I’m using that empty-axle-bar overhead squat here and there to make sure this stuff is actually doing what it’s supposed to.

As far as actually in the gym, I’m still messing with overhead squats with the warmup weights. My body is still [re]learning things, but doing these bottoms-up from pins seems to be one of the best ways to make sure things are just lined up right.

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8
power: 105 x 7 x 3; 105 x 1 x 2
mass: 85 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
flush: 65 x 10

Did an overhead hold with the last set of 105, took a few steps back, took a few steps forward. Everything seems to be lining up a lot better after working on this various mobility stuff. Mostly the couch stretch though, honestly.

One more session with 105, then bumping up the weight.

Elbow pain is nonexistent right now.

–

Did the math, and I did something like 260 reps of presses last week week.

Today: 19 sets, 91 reps.

Just for fun:
Session 1: 85; 17
Session 2: 86; 18
Session 3: 87; 19
Session 4: 88; 20
Session 5: 89; 21
Session 6: 90; 22
Session 7: 91; 23
Session 8: 92; 24

Total: 708 reps (256 warmup reps, 164 “power” reps, 208 “mass” reps, 80 “flush” reps), before you increase the work weights

Or, in loads, with my current weights: 14,080 lbs from warmups; 17,220 lbs from “power” reps; 17,680 from “mass” reps; 5,200 lbs from “flush” reps = 54,180 lbs

67

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1
385 x 5
355 x 5

Misloaded 355 and got 365 instead during the warmup.

Colder day and positioning sucked. Low back hurt afterward, until releasing my piriformis. Then it’s pretty much fine.

Should probably roll piriformis and calves before doing this next time.

68

Before leaving, rolled piriformis.

355 was still on the bar, so just tried to see how that felt when cold. My positioning is much better today than it was yesterday. Got it up a few inches, a couple times, none of that pressure on my low back at the bottom like yesterday.

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
65 x 8
105 x 8 x 3
85 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
65 x 10

Last session with 105. Moving to 110 on Friday. Shoulders not hurting much on these anymore. Narrower grip feels more “natural” at the bottom, but a wider grip is stronger, i.e., so that forearms are vertical when the bar is at the top of my head.

69

And there it is, 405.

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 3 – PR, 440 at top
405 x 0,0
375 x 4

I held the 405 reps way too long at the top before descending and wore myself out. Brain wasn’t functioning well. Did a few pseudo-attempts/isometrics with it before dropping the weight down to 375.

Was hoping for 5, but 3 was enough work. Will hit it for 5 next cycle. At this point, since I did hit a new peak/PR, there’s nothing to say that 2x weekly with 5 work reps won’t work, but it does still sound low to me. Next cycle starts at 285.

Rolled out some stuff before leaving, but things got tighter as I went on. Low back was stiff before 405, and stiffer after. 375 left my quads hurting too. Hanging out in hollow-body position made things feel a bit better.

I think I need to put some serious attention to ab work. I think my low back is just overpowering things right now.

All that said, happy about the 405. I’ve been close, but never actually did it.

70

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
65 x 8
110 1 x 3; 7 x 2
90 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
70 x 10

And first session with 110 went pretty well.

The first set of 3 had me a bit iffy at first, but, while hard, it went up just fine. As did the next set, and the next, and so on.

So far the pattern is… hard work… followed by more hard work.

3x a week, 5lb weight increases, that seems to work.

71

I’ve also got a sore spot at the top of my abs, where they connect with my ribcage. It’s like I pulled something there with the 405 reps yesterday.

This reiterates, again, that I should be doing more ab work. I’ll wait until it heals, then throw in DB ab rollouts 2-3x a week.

72

Over the weekend:

2 hikes. One was 7 or 8 miles, and we saw 10 waterfalls. Body’s not really used to this, so I was kinda sore, and I slept pretty well.

Second was only 4 miles or so, but most of it was on the side of a hill. A little less than half up, half down. This one also passed by a waterfall (which we scrambled down to the bottom and back up for a bit), and then up on some plateau overlooking the river and a bunch of wildflowers.

Nice hikes.

And, the conditioning was good for me. The most sore part are my tibialis though, all that downhill walking on dirt paths.

–

Left shoulder hurt badly waking up today. Not at all sure what happened to it. Sharp pains, and even pulsing pains. Tried some band distraction thing mentioned in some omar isuf video, and that helped a bit, as did some stretches against a doorway. Didn’t hurt while lifting though.

–

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8
110 x 2 x 3; 6 x 2
90 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
70 x 10

Second session with 110 went pretty well too.

I think I’m finally getting used to this kind of work.

73

This is somewhere between a quarterly and triannual checkin.

[quote][quote]furo wrote:
Looking forward to following your progress in 2015. I like your routine and I like the idea of eating for size and training for strength. Do you have any particular strength and size goals for 2015?[/quote]
Not particularly. I’ve realized how hard it is to predict strength goals a year in advance; it’s more speculation than goals.

Working toward this goal still:
Axle Clean and Press 230 x 8
18" Axle Deadlift w/Straps 540 x 10

But, speculating:
I think I can bring my Z press to probably around 205 x 5 by the end of the year.
The current mat pull setup, I think I can bring it to 435 x 5 or so.

So maybe something like a 450 deadlift from the floor by the end of the year.

I’m also going to try to put on around 20lbs of bodyweight this year and focus on that a bit more aggressively. [/quote]

Looks like it’ll be more like 170 or 175x5 by the end of the year, for standing presses. That’s if I’m able to maintain constant progress with the Hepburn programming as it is. That’s still a long ways from 205x5.

On the other hand, mat pulls should be quite a bit higher than 435 x 5. If 405 x 3 (and probably 5, if I really wanted) is where I’m at currently, I should be able to add more than 30 pounds by the end of the year.

If past progress is any indicator of future success, I should actually be closing in on 500x5 by the end of the year.

Also, bodyweight is up about 8 pounds so far, or, ~2lbs a month.

74

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
285 x 5
255 x 5

Temperature was cold; 30 degree drop since yesterday.

Form wasn’t so great.

75

Axle Overhead Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8
110 x 3 x 3; 5 x 2
90 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
70 x 10

This was a little tough(er than normal).

Did a lot of band distraction mobility stuff earlier this day, and joints just felt weird. Not a lot of energy either today, but didn’t eat much yet today either. Kinda makes some sense.

Did a few mat pulls with 245 here and there. Trying out a few things.

76

If you are able to post a vid of your overhead presses, i may be able to try to pick apart your form. I really feel like if we could hook up for a training session together, i could almost immediately help you up the pounds on your overhead. Let me know brother.

77

[quote]Alpha wrote:
If you are able to post a vid of your overhead presses, i may be able to try to pick apart your form. I really feel like if we could hook up for a training session together, i could almost immediately help you up the pounds on your overhead. Let me know brother.[/quote]
Yeah, that would be great.

I’ll probably upgrade my phone in the next week or so, then get a video up. Don’t have any space for video right now (or pictures, for that matter).

As far as hooking up for a training session, we’re on completely separate coasts, but definitely something to plan for in the future.

78

55lb KB “butt walks”
Just a set forward and back. Something I saw in a Donnie Thompson video for activating glutes and QL.

7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
305 x 5
275 x 5

Went back to the old form cues that worked, but increased the explosiveness. Shoulders pushed toward the b ar, then lock lats, push butt back to descend and load hamstrings, keep shins vertical. Then lift by driving the hips forward and keeping the back locked. These were nice, clean, fast reps.

–

Kind of an injury PR. Managed to put a coat on today without any pain twinges in my left shoulder. In fact, left shoulder didn’t hurt at all when I woke up this morning (despite the overhead press work yesterday).

Been messing around a lot with band distraction/traction stuff. Stuff is like magic.

Basically, hook around wrist, keep arm straight, then move away so that the arm is pulled out of the socket, and put the body into various positions and just hold. Internally and externally rotate the arm, pull it into socket, and let it get pulled out. Just lots of stretching of lots of different areas, a few pops, tendons realigning, stuff like that.

79

Upper and mid back was pretty sore last night and today. Guess that’s the difference between explosive and non-explosive pulls on a light-ish weight. I take that as a sign I should keep doing them like that.

Shoulders and right elbow feeling less than perfect. Just fades in and out when it is and isn’t painful. Still doing band distraction mobility work though. I’ll keep this up for a week or two and see where that leaves me.

Axle Press from Rack
40 x 8
50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8
110 x 4 x 3; 4 x 2
90 x 6,5,4,4,4,3
70 x 10

Wasn’t really feeling it during any of the warmup sets. Lots of tightness and clicking around my clavicles and stuff (this is relatively new).

However, how I felt had no bearing on how I performed, so whatever. Bar moved slow, but was pretty strong on all of it.

–

Third week of MWF done. Making progress every single session.

Over 2 months of steady progress with this routine.

80

LoRez
Hey buddy, I guess I needed a couple months after my release to get my head, and training back in place, but I’m back posting daily, and thought I’d drop to say thanks for the support you and a couple other gave me through a trying time. Onwards and upwards, stay in touch. Later