I think the long term progression will look something like Jin → Kazuya → Heihachi → ?? → True Ogre.
7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 2 – tweaked something a bit in my right low back, around this weight
hook
315 x 1
335 x 1
straps
365 x 1
380 x 1
410 x 0, 0
Thought I’d have at least one rep today, but I’m ok with that. Just not strong enough yet. Low back buckled on the first attempt, and the second attempt I used as an isometric. Got some good work in with the warmup though (too many warmup sets, I think.)
Starting a new cycle on Monday, starting with 280 or 285.
Axle Clean and Press - Clean Once per Set
40 x 5
60 x 5
80 x 5
100 x 2
wraps
100 x 2, 3, 2
70 x 10
Guess I need to work up to 4 x 3. Failures were around the sticking point; bar got off the shoulders but stuck around the forehead. Not enough speed or strength to power through. Backoff set was challenging.
Having fun with these though.
Shoulders hurt in the rack position, and thus will probably hurt while sleeping tonight and tomorrow. I’ll probably just do these monday/thursday instead of MWF.
Ring Pullups
10lb x 3, 2, 2, 1
Ring Dips
5lb x 4, 3, 2, 2, 1
Slow and steady on both of these. PRs everyday so far, technically.
Ring Dips
5lb x 4, 3, 3, 2, 1
Ring Pullups
10lb x 3, 3, 2, 1
Ring Pullups
10lb x 4, 3, 2, 1
Ring Dips
5lb x 4, 4, 3, 2, 1
Shoulder Remodeling Stuff
Axle Clean and Press - Clean Once per Set
40 x 5
60 x 5
45 x 10
wraps
80 x 5
100 x 4 sets x 3
80 x 10
Shoulders actually felt good sleeping friday and saturday; hurt a bit sunday night. They hurt right now.
Good session though.
Yesterday
Ring Dips
5lb x 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Ring Pullups
10lb x 4, 3, 2, 2, 1
Today
Ring Dips
10lb x 3, 2, 1, 1
Ring Pullups
10lb x 4, 3, 3, 2, 1
7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
280 x 5
250 x 5
Starting over light. I was really tempted to start at 285 so I’d be working with 315, but then I remembered how much I like seeing 310 on the bar and stayed with 280.
I pulled together a chart of my training weight and the improvement of my 5RM over time with the mat pulls. This is every session since I moved here.
I find it interesting how linear the actual improvement has been. Even if I drop out the first half of those training sessions, the line is almost the exact same. It also seems I genuinely increased my 5RM by 75 pounds since mid-September.
If I can maintain this rate of progress, that puts me at 450 by early July, and 530 by the end of the year. Extrapolation is almost always a bad idea, but it’s interesting nevertheless.
Shoulder Remodeling Stuff
10 min hanging off and on
30/30/30 front/lateral/rear raises with 2.5lb plates
Dropped from 5s down to 2.5. I want these to heal so I can keep making progress with my pressing. This is about volume, not weight.
I had trouble sleeping last night because of shoulder pain. It was pretty bad.
Spent some time reading more stuff on pressing by Bill Starr and Doug Hepburn.
I changed my grip. What worked for Z Pressing with the barbell is not working for C&Ping with the axle. Based on Bill Starr’s recommendation, I switched to “roughly thumbs length from the smooth”. I measured and taped off where the smooth would be on the axle. It seems doing that I can clean and press from there without pain… at least so far; will see over time.
The Bill Starr pressing routine is similar to what I’d read about some of Hepburn’s routines (via Charles A Smith’s articles). I just read over the book “Hepburn’s Law”, and I’m going to switch to that for now. Could be too much volume.
Warmup: 4 sets of 8
Power Sets: 8 sets of 2-3. Start with 1x3,7x2; work up to 8x3, adding another set of 3 each session.
Mass Sets: Drop the weight, do 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3 with it. Use the same weight for all sets. Use this same pattern every session.
Pump/Flushing Set: Drop the weight, do 10 reps.
Once you hit 8x3, add 2.5lbs for pressing and start over. Very slow progression; 2.5lbs a month. Frequency is 2x a week.
In reality, I may do a few things to move through this faster, such as adding more than one set of 3 each session and/or increasing the weight 5 lbs after hitting 8x3. I feel like I may progress faster in the beginning simply because my press is currently so low.
–
7 Mat Pulls w/35lb Chains
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 5
265 x 5
Axle Clean and Press
20 x 8
40 x 8
60 x 8
80 x 7 – this was too high of a weight for a warmup
power: 100 x 3; 100 x 7 x 2
mass: 80 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
flush: 60 x 10
This was a lot of work, and felt like a lot of work. 19 sets, most of them difficult.