On time comes the itch to train again. Deload has done its work.
1 Like
More wrapping notes:
Light - six revolutions: five up, one around the top, pull through
Medium - seven revolutions: five up, one diagonal top down around the BACK first, across the front bottom to top, across the back at top, top down across the front around back bottom, pull through
Tight - eight revolutions: five up, one diagonal top down around the BACK first, across the front bottom to top, across the back at top, top down across the front around back bottom, across the middle, pull through
1 Like
Wow! Looking great!
1 Like
@Koestrizer @ChickenLittle thank you! It’s nice, I think my body is starting to settle down a bit at this composition/weight. It’s encouraging.
1 Like
You have every reason to be!
1 Like
Now here’s a thing: I keep going back to the two FBFB cycles. The purpose of that segment of the year is to back off a little for a couple of months. Mid May to end October is effectively my ‘in season’ period, with two meets framing three and a bit cycles of Training Maximally. Anticipating that by the end of this a back-off period will do me good, I picked FBFB.
I’m pretty certain how it’s set up is fit for purpose. I think what I’m struggling with is the relatively low daily volume. Now I think about it, over the week the volume is comparable because I squat three times a week.
OK, so I’m just being silly. Noted.
You look like a new man, no joke!
1 Like
I feel like of different, and kind of the same. It’s weird but in a good way.
More hunger today, despite normal eating.
Got some practice eyeballing portions again, this time with mandasi aka vetsoek aka fat cakes. Despite the name, not actually that fatty, but quite delicious and carby. Big advantage to not eating much wheat/refined flour: you can occasionally eat wheat/refined flour without feeling off. Perfect timing, because I was lower on carbs than I like for the time of day.
Eyeball and hand weighing: 150 g give or take. I stared at them on the table for a good thirty minutes, to make sure I was actually hungry instead of just craving. This was about 45 minutes after lunch, and I left the table hungry.
I’m noticing a mental shift here, and again neither positive or negative. The focus is now on eating as much as I can to maintain weight and body comp as opposed to eating as little as possible while recovering and losing fat.
Of course I’m slowly adding how much I eat, but along with that comes periodic anxiety of a kind that I’m under estimating how much I’m eyeballing. I noted 150 g of mandasi. In my hand it felt like less, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
Meh. I’m babbling.
Honestly, now I have a result I’m very anxious to keep it; previously I was eager to achieve the result, which in a way is less demanding.
I did anticipate this, though: I always figured that Phase II would be the mentally more demanding on because I’d be working on maintaining body comp while gradually increasing calories.
Because, sure, 150 g give or take of food fitting in my macro and calorie budget is going to throw everything off. I’m a fucking idiot sometimes.
1 Like
Welcome to the party! I always battle myself with food (as you can see from my post asking others about their intake). One of the responses I received was to add/increase cardio if I felt that I was gaining some fluff instead of decreasing calories. I think the same idea could apply to you as you add to your daily intake. If you feel that your body is starting to store the extra calories then you could just try to burn a little more during the day.
Keep moving forward!
1 Like
Woke at 183.7 lbs.
Oh, and realised I mislogged breakfast yesterday. I was around 150 cal UNDER what I thought. Probably all balances out.
@Frank_C thanks for the suggestion. It makes sense, and is something I’ve considered.
1 Like
Anchor, cycle 2, week 1
Today’s training
Lazy lifter plus shoulders
Noticed my arms and upper back were a little tired from wrapping practice. Not a problem, because I was wrapping over and over with no breaks unlike in training or meet, where I have breaks between wraps.
Bench press
35 pull aparts between first three warmup sets
5x165 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x192 lbs, 6-7 RPE - misgrooved this set a bit
6x214 lbs, 8-9 RPE - no point in pushing for eight from how it felt
1x236 lbs, 8-9 RPE - travel from mid point onwards is getting better, almost taking me by surprise. I think tricep work and close grip is paying off
1x258 lbs, 9-10 RPE - was work, but again felt well grooved. This is actually dead on 1.4 times my waking bodyweight. I think 1.5 times weight class is a realistic possibility come July, maybe even the extra six pounds to 1.5 times bodyweight.
CGBP 3x8x165 lbs, 7-8, 8-9, 8 RPE - longer break between sets two and three
Wasn’t a massive fan of DB military and CSRs didn’t feel as good as they used to so decided to change this part of the day for the cycle
Supersetted Z press/strict BB rows
Press 50 total reps: 5x100 lbs, waaaaay too ambitious, 10x88 lbs, OK, still too ambitious, 10, 9, 8, 9 at 77 lbs still hard
Rows 50 total reps: 10x176 lbs, nope, too much body English and lower back work, 10, 10, 10, 10, 8 at 154 lbs, workable
This was humbling. No WAY I was going to do this with 90 second rests but definitely keeping it in with the 77 lbs Z press and 154 lbs strict rows. Felt it exactly where I want, centre of my middle and upper back. DL may be mildly affected tomorrow until I get accustomed, but that’s no major issue.
Penultimate set
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTP4TVxl2S9/
Decided try machine preacher curls
Supersetted machine preacher curls/rope tricep pushdowns
Curls 50 total reps at 60 lbs: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Pushdowns 100 total reps at 27 lbs: 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
60 second rests
Machine preacher curls are insidious bastards. I like them. I can control the eccentric much better and the overall pump I got was obnoxious in both bis and tris. Keeping these for at least this cycle.
Stationary bike sprints 10 x 40 sec off/20 sec on at level 15
Definitely felt the extra level. I was planning to stay at 15 until post meet, and I think it’ll work nicely. If it gets easier down the track I’ll just reduce break by five seconds and add five seconds to the sprint.
9 Likes
Woke at 185 lbs, but looking decent. Maybe a trifle softer than yesterday, but maybe that’s in my head. Who knows? I had a plate of grilled chicken with rice for lunch with chilli and garlic sauce so I’m putting the extra weight down in part of the extra salt. I also had to eyeball the portion, so I may have eaten a tad more (maybe 150 g across the meal at most). We’ll see how I wake tomorrow.
1 Like
Oh, and I have the beginnings of ab veins. Not going too far, starting just north of the junk zone and going for a couple of inches. Either way, whatever the scale says I think I’m doing OK.
6 Likes
Today’s training
Lazy lifter
Stiff bar DL
9 neutral grip pull-ups between first three warmup sets - that’s an all time pull-up rep PR, very pleased
Tried pulling in my socks. Even on the ‘slippery’ platform it felt great from the first rep. DL slippers will be my next purchase, probably from Titan Australia because they’re the cheapest and I really don’t see why I’d spend more on something as simple as DL slippers
5x346 lbs, under 6 RPE, straps - felt very fast. It seems like the 340-380 lbs window is where my positioning is me-perfect. The aim is eventually for that window to be 450-500 lbs at least
5x396 lbs, 6 RPE, maybe just under, straps
8x451 lbs, 10 RPE - I’m starting to enjoy grinding DL a little. Had to strain long enough on the last rep I started blacking out slightly locking out. This is an equal rep PR.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTTD_WCFKzE/
Paused front squat
2x275 lbs
2x297 lbs
2x319 lbs EDIT MISTYPED AS 419
Glad I added 11 lbs, but the top set was harder. Near blackout number two.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTTI_9glu0J/
45 degree back raises
100 total reps at bodyweight: 60, 40
Made a conscious effort to control the eccentric. Noticeably bigger pump across hams, glutes and lower back. Will continue this.
Decided to switch out ab wheel, last few weeks it felt like they weren’t quite hitting my abs the way they used to. Decided to try BB suitcase holds like I saw Ed Coan demonstrating on Mark Bell’s channel.
Supersetted BB suitcase holds/RDFs
Holds at 132 lbs for a 25 count per hand: 4 sets
RDFs 100 total reps at 25 lbs: 25, 25, 25, 25
I think this makes my obliques work. Can’t hurt. DEFINITELY makes my grip work. Combined with the RDFs this might actually make my traps grow.
Also, got some apple cider vinegar because I saw it and it was cheap. Can’t hurt, right?
7 Likes
Nice work Mark, nearly blacking out through effort, holding breath too long or reduced calories, what do you think ?
2 Likes
Beast! Your 400+ front squat looks about like mine @ 135lbs.
Have you ever used a barbell instead of the ab wheel? I’ll use 25’s, 35’s, & 45’s on the bar and they all feel a bit different. I can go faster with the smaller plates and it’s a bit more of a grind with the 45’s.
1 Like
8 Likes
MarkKo, have you always had the flexibility in your wrists to front squat ?
I’m pretty flexible in my lat/shoulder but I can never get the bar to rest on my front delts and put my hands in the right position. What ends up happening is my fringers are hyperextendng and it pulls something in my wrist, it pretty painful.
I have to do front squat with my arms crossed but that hurts my shoulders too if I’m not careful.
That’s annoying cause I’d like to add them and maybe power cleans at one point.
If anybody’s got advice, they’re welcome! Thanks. Sorry for hjkacking your thread aha
1 Like