One thing you can do, that I do, is pair exercises that are tough on the back with exercises that basically have no back involved.
So here:
With squats, you could pair the CG bench with squats and use similar rest times that you would use for each exercise. So if you were resting 5 minutes between sets, now you would get 10 minutes between squat sets instead of 5. That can help a lot with back pumps / cramps. Lateral raises, cable flyes, and hammer curls would also work here, but I believe the CG bench is the best choice (I have paired this exercise with deadlifts before). You may even be able to reduce rest times a bit with different muscles being used for each exercise. Instead of 5 minutes between sets, you could probably get away with 4 minutes without impacting strength.
I have considered it but my mistake was doing this at the commercial gym instead of my own gym… For whatever reason, gyms have been unusually busy the last few weeks so I didn’t have the equipment needed to do that.
If and when I get around to bringing back squats into the mix again, I will have to be smarter about training organization so I could do more stuff like you have mentioned.
In that case, perhaps do the lateral raises. Still gives you a bit more time between squat sets.
My go to exercise to pair things with is chin ups. Just need a pull up bar for that and my gym has lots of those. I don’t pair it with deadlifts anymore though. I feel it negatively impacts the deadlifts. I am fine with it for squats though.
I’m not opposed to doing other stuff along with the squats, it’s just going off program (I started up Fortitude) and I don’t really think the juice is worth the squeeze. I don’t really care about chasing PRs anymore; I did powerbuilding for a long time and just don’t think it’s in the cards for me to keep going that route anymore. I still plan to lift really heavy, just veering away from some of the exercises that seem to be ruining the rest of my training sessions.
Channeling Mike Israetel’s Stimulus:Fatigue ratio vibe.
I get this. These days, I kinda stay away from the powerlifter stuff. Stuff like lots of doubles and triples. Just takes so much time, and I don’t feel like I accomplish much. It has it’s place from time to time. I am doing low volume with wide stance squats (3x3), but that is mostly because my back and hips have historically hated squats. I am following that up with higher rep belt squats and extensions and leg curls.
I dropped weight in some exercises and started aiming toward hypertrophy. With the DC and “intensity” driven exercises, I’ve been neglecting my negatives for the sake of more weight - which is undermining everything I’m working towards. Smarter exercise selection and negatives are now incorporated. Training session felt great and I wasn’t floored at the end of it, so I hope I can keep it going without feeling burnt out as I have been.
Side note: Sleep has improved the past 2 days. nothing crazy, still averaging 5.5-6 hours, but quality is much better.
I kind of already was one lol. I used to be an aviation hydraulic mech and I’m technically still certified to work on hydro systems, but i work as a Flight Ops QA Inspector now…
Plumbing is plumbing, whether it’s 12-25psi water systems or 5000psi+ aviation systems
3/19/22 - Off day (planned)
DAILY WORK:
Band Pull Aparts x50
Wide Grip Pull Ups x20
Grocery Bag Farmer’s Carry: 1 trip
Thoughts
It doesn’t really feel like I’m cutting right now, and I don’t know why… I’m 1,000cal daily deficit and I’m certainly feeling the hunger here and there, but it doesn’t feel like it did when I first started cutting back in November. I have to wonder if this is just me being in a different mental space where “dieting” doesn’t feel like “dying” anymore.
I’m appreciating Fortitude not feeling like I’m being worked too hard with the current changes (no compound powerlifts), but I feel like this reduction in CNS fatigue is going to leave some progress on the table. I don’t want to bring powerlifts back into the regimen, at least not for a little bit, but I am physically capable of handling more volume than I’m currently doing. I’m so accustomed to feeling burnt out all the time that not feeling that way suddenly feels wrong. Did I Stockholm Syndrome myself?
I’ve decided to do daily work to the tune of band pull aparts everyday and pull ups on my off days. To help speed up weight loss, I may even introduce WOD stuff - which I have never done before. With this strange feeling of being recovered, I feel I should work myself harder but in a different way so that I may reach my goals.
Good session. Decided to put Hack Squats in for Loading Quads; ironically my regular back squat is MUCH stronger than my hack squat lol.
Side note: i got a chance to LOL at a teachable moment today…
-Gym noob has a half dozen 45lb plates strewn around his bench and the bar is empty so i walk up and grab 2 of them.
-Noob says “I need those”
-I respond “all of them?” (I noticed his bar was empty)
-Noob “yeah man, its chest day”
-Me, in all my sarcastic wisdom, “… oh my bad bro, I’ll wait until you’re done”
-Bro Noob loads up 315 without a warmup (while I’m waiting/watching)
-Noob unracks bar and is immediately pinned by his own barbell. Noob and his spotter struggle to re-rack the bar (the bar probably weighed more than both of them combined)
-Noob sits up from bench and I ask “you all done with two of those 45s?”
-Noob nods ‘yes’ in obvious disappointed embarrassment.
I’ll admit i could tell he was not capable of benching 3 plates given his apparent lack of visible muscle.
No noobs were severely injured during the making of this film. The same cannot be said of respective noobs’ ego, however.
Love that story. I’ve seen a lot of young lads being pinned by 2 plates a side after doing about 5 struggling reps with 1 plate per side.
Over the years I have actually really enjoyed seeing idiots do stuff like that at the gym although I remember the first time I ever set foot in the gym at around 14 and I got stuck under 1 plate per side so I can’t laugh too much.
Upper back was still pretty sore, so were the hams; didnt seem to affect performance at all though. Struggling to ‘feel’ anything in my outer lats so i said “fuck it” and just went for weight on pull ups. Overall good session.
P.S forgot to weigh myself this morning… whoops
EDIT:
Bad news: I went off-diet last night (3/23) and ate a big ole plate of nachos… counted macros at ~750cal.
Good news: I was still technically in a deficit.
Might extend the diet out another day to make up for it.
Thoughts
I’ve been hungrier lately. Though I’ve technically gone off diet a couple times this week, it has been to eat more lean protein each time (except the nachos, obviously). My workouts are feeling better and physique is improving - muscles are looking fuller while abs are becoming more visible. I’m wondering if these urges I’ve been having to eat more protein are a sign that I’m becoming more in-tune with my nutritional needs, or if it’s just coincidence.
