Lo/Rez Training

Training Training Logs
841

God damn animal.

I opened the garage gym today to find my pet turtle that I buried… its shell crushed and ripped to pieces all across the floor. And, obviously, rotting. That was a mess to clean up.

–

Squats
45 x 5
foam rolled IT bands to pain tolerance
45 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3
215 x 5
215 x 3

Squat Lockouts
215 x 5
235 x 10

Squats are, once again, my weakness. Knees are giving me some trouble but I’m also just finding myself weak on them altogether. This is unacceptable.

–

In good news, I did a tiny bit more work, and I’m really happy with my tricep cable setup in my garage now. I can do pushdowns and extensions and plate load it.

A single strand of 550 paracord theoretically should handle 550 lbs static weight, so as long as I don’t jerk things around, I’ll probably be fine up to 150 lbs or so. (Since I’m using rothco 550, and not the real thing.)

–

Also, I fucking love nicotine gum. Focus and intensity controlled entirely by how much/little I chew it.

842

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Pulley system. I just have some chain hooked to the carabiner, but could obviously be any attachment or whatever.

843

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Another angle.

It’s very very smooth.

844

It’s a cat. Not a particularly big one, but I didn’t have a way to get it out without cornering it… and I wasn’t about to do that. I feel better knowing what it is.

Standing BTN Press - only to top of head
45 x a few
95 x 3
117.5 x 5
117.5 x 5
117.5 x 12

Unilateral Leaning-Away Overhead Tricep Extensions
15 x 15 (R), 15 (L)
15 x 15 (R), 13 (L)

My right arm is usually my weak arm; apparently today it’s the strong arm, for these at least.

If my goal is 8 230 lb axle clean and presses, and assume 40 lbs from hip drive in the push press, that’s 190 lbs for 8 clean and strict presses. My estimated max on the standing BTN presses is right around 160, and last I checked on front presses, my 1RM was 140. That puts my 8RM in the ballpark of 130 lbs. So I need to add AT LEAST 60lbs to my strict standing press to be able to do the pressing side of that.

I’m making broad generalizations but just trying to get a rough idea.

On the clean side of things, learning the continental is going to be interesting, considering I plan on staying pretty lean and won’t really have the belly to rest things on. A normal overhand clean might be doable, but I’m not going to put my faith in that… not if Koklyaev had trouble with it and he actually knows how to do it right. There’s also the Svend Karlsen clean. That might be worth learning.

I’ll worry about the clean once my press is somewhat respectable. And once my shoulders can hold a proper rack position without pain. I may add in some high pulls on my deadlift day, just to build the hip drive side of things.

845

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I’m actually going to make 3 of these, out of schedule 80 pipe. I can buy a 21’ piece of schedule 80 for less than 70 bucks. I know a few people that could use these. I’ll plasma cut some collars, then weld them on. Not sure if I’ll paint the bars. I’ll probably leave them unpainted to start, I can always do it later. The only thing I can’t do at my shop is add knurling, I’ll have to look into that. It’d be nice to add a few knurling rings for reference.
[/quote]

Those should be nice. I thought about getting a hold of some Schedule 80, but I did some research on the numbers and 40 seemed to be stiff enough for pretty much anything pressing-wise. I’ll upgrade to 80 when I actually need to.

846

Today is the end of the “diet” or whatever. I pretty much neglected cardio this week though, but still made progress on the scale side of things. I’ll update bodyweight tomorrow morning.

I now know something about nutrition, finally. That has been a serious problem in the past. I’m looking forward to a lean bulk knowing what I now know. I’m going to target .5 lbs of bodyweight gain a week, and just make it happen on a consistent basis. I’ll clean up when I need to.

Tomorrow before I fly out of here, I’m going to attempt a 1xBW standing press. I’m pretty sure I have that now. My bodyweight is down, my strength is up, and I did 140 with an olympic style press in the past. A ~150 press is still pretty light, but 1xBW is a milestone. I’m hoping to do this strict, but I’ll move toward olympic style if that’s what it takes to get it up.

847

Didn’t happen.

I’m weak in the bottom of the range of motion: shoulders to top of the head. The part that’s been avoided due to shoulder issues.

Depending on how my shoulders feel tomorrow, I’m going to either start doing more work from the front in that range and hit it directly, or do those partial wide-grip upright rows and hit it indirectly.

147.7 this morning. As low as I ever want to be again.

848

… and I’m back from my vacation. I’ll talk about it later.

–

Before I left, I’d been perusing a number of strongman training logs trying to pull out some general training approaches and particularly looking at how they trained the pressing work. The basic formula for the good pressers seemed to be: 1) dynamic work early in the week, 2) static work later in the week.

Pretty much every training session, whether pressing or pulling or squatting was 1) ramping the lift, maybe with a backoff set, rep ranges driven by whether their next contest was 1RM or max reps based; 2) an overloaded variant of that lift; 3) ONE accessory lift, and usually for high reps.

So, for instance…

  1. Regular Deadlifts, ramped sets of 5, 3 total sets at that daily 5RM, one backoff set
  2. 18" Deadlifts, ramped sets of 3
  3. RDLs for sets of 10

Or

  1. Strict Overhead Press from Rack, ramp to a 3RM, no backoff
  2. Floor Press, ramp to a 5RM
  3. JM Press for sets of 20

Nobody seemed to use or care about percentages on any lifts. However, rarely was a set below 3 reps, and rarely was it over 8 reps. Unless it was accessory work, and then 15-20 seemed to be pretty common, for 3-5 sets.

–

Sometime around then, I asked CT his thoughts on Axle Clean technique. There are a few ways to do it, and since I know he’s been training with some of Canada’s strongman competitors, and maybe worked with a few (can’t remember), I figured he’d have some insight. Also to get some advice on how to train for the axle clean itself, since it’s not the same as a barbell clean. I ended up with a full training routine for the axle clean and press, which was a lot more than I expected.

Pressing Day 1:
Axle Strict Press 5x3-5 (clean for first rep of each set)
Axle Clean 5x3-5 (not sure if double-overhand or continental yet)

Pressing Day 2:
Axle Push Press 5x3-5 (clean for first rep of each set)
Zercher Deadlift 5x3-5

Pressing Day 3:
Axle Strict Press to Push Press, 3-4 sets, use the same weight as Day 1, get 4-6 strict then switch to AMRAP push press
Axle Double Overhand Clean to Continental Clean (same thing as above)

I think, realistically, I probably have all the information I’ll ever need to know about training for this. This is probably about as complicated as it ever needs to get… not just for the clean and press, but for any lift.

849

The cat is still there, a bunch of stuff was soaked, and my coated weight plates that were supposed to be rust proof are apparently not rust proof when a cat pees on them. Fun times. I think only 2 10s and 1 5 were rusted, as well as one of my loading pins and half of another.

And, the garage light has gone out and I don’t have a replacement bulb.

I can’t even lift in peace right now. Or in the light. Cut the workout short because I couldn’t see at the end.

–

Did a bunch of shoulder retraction work at the rehab place today. Those muscles are all pretty sore. Posture has improved a lot since I started this whole process though, and shoulder pain has moved from sporadic sharp pains to occasional dull pain.

A few very light Zerchers from the floor, just to get a feel for the movement.

Z Press (after wiping down the floor so I could sit on it)
20 x 5
40 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
80 x 5
80 x 5
80 x 5
80 x 5

I hit 5x5 with 80, so 85 next time.

Unilateral Cable Pushdowns - Right first, then Left
15 x 11
12.5 x 11
10 x 15
10 x 15

Right shoulder is hurting on these – I can’t seem to keep that joint completely stable and just use my triceps – but the elbow’s feeling pretty good. Actually, I don’t think I had any elbow issues this entire session. That’s good, right?

So far I’ve had issues with my elbow, my knees, my shoulders, my forearms (from curls), and occasional minor wrist pain. Most of these have been around since I started lifting. The joint issues have actually held back my progress, if I’m perfectly honest about it. I don’t know how much of this has to do with age, or lifestyle, or diet, but it’s quite annoying.

On the other hand, I haven’t had any more “serious” issues, like anywhere along my spine or my hips or neck. Nor my ankles, fingers, feet, toes, or left elbow.

–

The really good news is now I’m back to eating for performance and muscle (and pleasure) and done dieting.

Morning BW today was 149.6. I’m going to target .5 lbs a week as a steady goal. Once I realized I can diet at a pretty consistent rate, I think I can probably do the same for gaining. None of this 6 weeks at the same weight anymore.

I’m also going to increase and diversify my oil intake and keep the greens supplement in. My very short term tests have shown I feel somewhat better and “healthier” with more Omega 3s, MCT oil and the powdered greens, so I want to actually use it for awhile and see for real.

I mean, I could just eat a few bags of organic spinach throughout the day, every day, along with a pound or two of salmon…

850

Wrist wraps just arrived. Inzer Z. Spent the last while trying different ways to wrap them and watching a handful of different approaches in videos. Then played with them a small bit. Curls seem to be really nice with them, as ridiculous as it might look. Even with those pushdowns, it seemed to help my elbow and shoulder (no idea how).

–

I realize I’m somewhat repeating myself, but this is the plan starting Monday.

Day 1:
Axle Strict Press 5x3-5 (clean for first rep of each set)
Axle Clean 5x3-5 (competition style)
Unilateral Cable Pushdowns 3-5x20

Day 2:
Squats 5,5,5+
EZ Bar Curls, 3-5x15
Ab Rollouts, 3 sets

Day 3:
Axle Push Press 5x3-5 (clean for first rep of each set)
Zercher Deadlift 5x3-5
Unilateral Overhead Cable Extensions 3-5x20

Day 4:
7 Mat Rack Pulls w/Chains 5+
Weighted Chins 3x10
Ab Rollouts, 3 sets

Day 5:
Axle Strict Press to Push Press, 3-4 sets, use the same weight as Day 1, get 4-6 strict then switch to AMRAP push press
Axle Double Overhand Clean to Competition Clean (same thing as above)
Unilateral Cable Pushdowns 3-5x20

Arm work might vary. Lockouts or Partials may be added to the squat day, mostly to just to build overall body stability. Having a good 200+ pounds on my back more than I can actually squat seemed to be good for me.

I’m kinda torn about the fact that Z Presses aren’t included. I only used them heavy for two sessions so far and liked them, but I’ll need to wait to see if/where they fit in the current plan.

Not quite sure what I’ll use for the “competition” clean, since I don’t have a belt (yet) nor any belly to use for continentalling. May do the Karlsen clean for now (mixed-grip to shoulders).

851

Yesterday I spent doing a ton of rehab stuff throughout the day. I worked from home so it was just spread throughout the day.

This isn’t mobility stuff, it’s “fix my joint positioning so it stops hurting” stuff.

For shoulders:

  • lots of retractions with arms in different positions
  • some lacrosse ball rolling of my pecs and bicep tendons

For knees:

  • a couple passes of foam rolling my IT bands; these are nothing but pain right now, with referred pain below the kneecap on my right side when the rolling gets closer to the knee. This is going to take awhile before these even remotely loosen up.
  • “quad sets”, which I learned about yesterday. Sitting on the ground, the leg is straight, and use the quad to pull the kneecap up and hold it for a few seconds. Repeat for several reps.
  • chair step-ups. Working on balance/coordination of everything around that joint.

A few weeks of this and I might actually be able to squat without any knee discomfort. My kneecaps might not slide side to side anymore. That would be cool.

–

Today I did some various rehab work with the rehab specialist. She said things are coming along well, and my shoulder blade positioning is pretty good now. The GH joint (what I think of as my actual shoulders) are still too far forward though. More stretching and rolling the pecs are what she suggests.

We increased the ROM for some of the exercises and added 2lb green dumbbells, and I got some impingement pain on my right side.

852

Diet is proving to be difficult. I readjusted everything now that I’m done with that cut. My calculated maintenance was right around 2400 @ 150 lbs, so I’m trying to get 2600 in daily now. I’ll adjust from here (obviously).

This feels like a ton of food right now and my appetite just isn’t there. Going from ~1600 calories to ~2600 calories is a pretty big jump. At least the appetite part worked out with expensive vacation food and saved me some money.

I’m going to have to pull out some of the dirty tricks to get the calorie intake up. Stuff like protein powder with half-n-half, Starbucks drinks, coconut oil in coffee/tea and just eating more frequently.

My bodyweight is still stabilizing a bit post-vacation, but the weight the last few days went from 149.6 to 149.5 to 149.0. I’ve been falling short of 2600 calories a bit, but it’s annoying that things aren’t yet going the right direction.

853

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Diet is proving to be difficult. I readjusted everything now that I’m done with that cut. My calculated maintenance was right around 2400 @ 150 lbs, so I’m trying to get 2600 in daily now. I’ll adjust from here (obviously).

This feels like a ton of food right now and my appetite just isn’t there. Going from ~1600 calories to ~2600 calories is a pretty big jump. At least the appetite part worked out with expensive vacation food and saved me some money.

I’m going to have to pull out some of the dirty tricks to get the calorie intake up. Stuff like protein powder with half-n-half, Starbucks drinks, coconut oil in coffee/tea and just eating more frequently.

My bodyweight is still stabilizing a bit post-vacation, but the weight the last few days went from 149.6 to 149.5 to 149.0. I’ve been falling short of 2600 calories a bit, but it’s annoying that things aren’t yet going the right direction.[/quote]

I personally wouldn’t make a 1000kcal jump like that. I’d work my way back up a bit slowly. Your metabolism isn’t crashed, you only cut for like 6 weeks if I recall. But I think you’ll find you can maintain leanness a bit better and even eat more cals in the long run if you kind or ‘reverse diet’ (not the slow ‘add 10 carbs a week’ style obviously).

854

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I personally wouldn’t make a 1000kcal jump like that. I’d work my way back up a bit slowly. Your metabolism isn’t crashed, you only cut for like 6 weeks if I recall. But I think you’ll find you can maintain leanness a bit better and even eat more cals in the long run if you kind or ‘reverse diet’ (not the slow ‘add 10 carbs a week’ style obviously).
[/quote]

So take something like a week to get back to maintenance levels and go from there?

855

Calories (net, not total):

6/23: 1432
6/24: 1950
6/25: 1287
6/26: 1907
6/27: 1507
6/28: 1442
6/29: 2237
6/30: 1957
7/1: 1550
7/2: 1981
7/3: 1786
Average: 1730

** Vacation **

7/9: 2557
7/10: 2468

Maintenance: ~2400
Current Target: ~2600

So… say… something like 2000, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500, 2600 over the next however many days that is?

856

Oh. I did more research.

Something more like 1900 calories this week. Then 2100 calories next week. Then 2300 the week after. Then 2500 the week after that. Something similar to that at least.

Suggestions?

857

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Oh. I did more research.

Something more like 1900 calories this week. Then 2100 calories next week. Then 2300 the week after. Then 2500 the week after that. Something similar to that at least.

Suggestions?[/quote]

Yes personally this is how I would do it. 200-350 kcal a week, depending on weight gain, and just do that each week. So if you eat 1900 for week and drop a pound or two, add 350 kcal. If you didn’t gain or lose any weight, add 200. If you gained weight, maybe just keep it the same for another week, then add in some more calories the next. That’s personally how I did it, ended up being able to eat something like 500g carbs most days and not be a fat ass. Another guy I know who used to post here eats 700g carbs daily at like a 185 lbs BW after reverse dieting. You just want to set your metabolism up well, so let’s say a little down the line you want to cut again, you’ll be able to do it eating 2500 kcal and not 1500 kcal, if that makes sense.

858

Throughout the day today… quad sets, step ups on a chair, pec stretches in a corner.

Axle Savickas Press - thumbless
20 x 10
40 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 5
85 x 5
85 x 5
85 x 5
85 x 5

Will be increasing to 90 next time.

Axle Moderate-Incline Bench Press from Pin 4
20 x 5 - thumbless
70 x 5
90 x 5
110 x 3
130 x 3 - added wraps
142.5 x 5
142.5 x 5 - switched to thumbs around
142.5 x 1, 2, 8 - adjusted/re-wrapped because I screwed these up

Will be increasing to 145 next time.

Unilateral Cable Pushdowns - Right then Left
10 x 20
10 x 20
10 x 20

Everything is feeling really good. The wraps seem to stave off the elbow pain too… I did a heavier incline rep or two without it and felt the pain, then put them back on. Not sure how much the thumbs-around and axle help, but the pain was there without the wraps on my right wrist. Either way, it seems I have a solution for my elbow when benching (finally).

Granted, my elbow was adjusted by the chiro today too.

This was a really really good session. I was stronger today in everything, and with much less pain.

Ok… I guess my AC joints were still a bit iffy with the Savickas press, but I’m so used to GH pain and elbow pain that I’m not really making much of it now. It was definitely less than last time, so I’m not going to worry about it yet.

–

I’m making too much progress with this routine, pressing-wise, to switch it up right now. And I feel like the Savickas presses are helping a lot with core strength/balance/coordination.

My proposed routine training the axle push press stuff… I’m going to delay it for a week or more.

I’ve maybe figured out my elbow and shoulders, I still have my knees.

859

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Oh. I did more research.

Something more like 1900 calories this week. Then 2100 calories next week. Then 2300 the week after. Then 2500 the week after that. Something similar to that at least.

Suggestions?[/quote]

Yes personally this is how I would do it. 200-350 kcal a week, depending on weight gain, and just do that each week. So if you eat 1900 for week and drop a pound or two, add 350 kcal. If you didn’t gain or lose any weight, add 200. If you gained weight, maybe just keep it the same for another week, then add in some more calories the next. That’s personally how I did it, ended up being able to eat something like 500g carbs most days and not be a fat ass. Another guy I know who used to post here eats 700g carbs daily at like a 185 lbs BW after reverse dieting. You just want to set your metabolism up well, so let’s say a little down the line you want to cut again, you’ll be able to do it eating 2500 kcal and not 1500 kcal, if that makes sense. [/quote]

That makes sense.

I’ve had very little appetite today. I ran the numbers, and between the last two days and today, it averages out to around 1950 calories. Kind of funny how the body self regulates like that.

I’m not going to force feed anything tonight… 1950 sounds like a good place to be right now.

I kinda got ahead of myself; my lifts are still improving, so there’s not really any rush. Thanks for stepping in and pointing out my mistake there.

860

Just a suggestion, if you find it hard to eat 2600 try some of the fattier cuts of meats. Chicken thighs and flank steak, 85% beef etc… Its not going to kill you, its extra fat cals and not dirty food at all