Haha, Widowmakers is what I had in mind. Might be worth thinking about how many hangs you can do before reaching failure first before cracking open Forever.
And your thoughts?
Plenty of people do these, likely due to seeing Yates and his development. What really makes me love them is when I figured out to take a nice (relatively) close grip, row real low into your waist, and angle Yourself forward enough to feel those lower lats engage. You wont feel it the same if youāre at a higher angle. If you need to try this on a smith machine to really position yourself correctly itās worth the effort.
S
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Not a great fit with my elbow tendonitis but did feel a better contraction in the back so will revisit!
Try not Contracting with your arms. Everyone squeezes their forearms like theyāre trying to break the bar. If your elbow is acting up, use lifting straps. Strap in tight, then loosely hold the bar, and imagine a shrugging type movement (albeit in a horizontal plane) where the muscles in your arms Arenāt really contracting, theyāre just along for the ride.
S
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Thank you for the form tips! Iāll try it out soon, I had a two-steps forward one-step back thing with the joint recently and I want to recoup that regression first before doing a movement that might aggravate it even with these modifications.
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Friday 2020-11-27
Warm-up Javorek Complex
| Set | Reps | Weight | Rest | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Push Press | -3 | 8 | 40 | ||
| -2 | 6 | 50 | |||
| -1 | 2 | 60 | |||
| 0 | 1 | 70 | missed | ||
| B. Press | 1 | 4 | 45 | 3-5 | |
| 2 | 5 | 45 | |||
| 3 | 5 | 45 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 45 | |||
| C. Log Press | 1 | 12 | Log | ||
| 2 | 7 | Log+10 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Log+10 | |||
| D. Bottoms up KB Press | 1 | 10 | Purple | ||
| 2 | 10 | Purple | |||
| 3 | 10 | Purple | |||
| D1. Face pull | 1 | 20 | 7.5 | ||
| 2 | 16 | 7.5 | |||
| 3 | 16 | 7.5 | |||
| D2. Rope Triceps | 1 | 7 | 17.5 | ||
| 2 | 7 | 17.5 | |||
| 3 | 6-8-10 | 17.5-15-10 | |||
| E. Shoulder box | 1 | 8 | 5/h | ||
| 2 | 8 | 5/h |
Nice session, thatās a āI donāt want to dieā-blend of volume and intensity.
Saturday 2020-11-28
AM Climbing, did a few personal PR sends on a few routes but feeling pretty worn in a lot of places so I think I will take a week off of climbing now lest I pop another pulley.
@j4gga2 Iāve been trying to understand how tendons and ligaments (such as the pulleys in the hand) which are āavascularā heal. My understanding is that they get their nourishment from synovial fluid movement and diffusion during mechanical loading. If that understanding is correct, then my hypothesis is that if one loads the tendons at a low intensity (not climbing!) one can and should do that every day to make them strong. Thoughts?
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Saturday 2020-11-28 PM
PM Lifting
Warm-up: Javorek Complex
| Exercise | Set | Reps | Weight | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Squat | -6 | 10 | Bar | |
| -5 | 8 | 70 | ||
| -4 | 6 | 95 | ||
| -3 | 6 | 102 | ||
| -2 | 4 | 110 | ||
| -1 | 4 | 115 | ||
| 0 | 1 | 120 | ||
| 1 | 6 | 110 | 3-5m | |
| 2 | 6 | 110 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 110 | ||
| B. Front Squat (belt + bench) | 1 | 4 | 70 | 2m |
| 2 | 4 | 70 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 70 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 70 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 70 | ||
| C. Split Squat Clean Grip | 1 | 8/leg | 40 |
I was just completely wiped for this session and couldnāt get through it all. Thursday I had a very active day with being on my feet and my hamstring has not recovered from that. Could also be that for me squats and climbing in the same day is just a bad blend.
I had to muster so much energy and effort on these squats (the returning reader will notice this is a regression). Like, I had to dial body tension up to eleven. Never curled my toes so hard. Felt like death even before my first work set. On the unilateral work I really noticed how bad it was, Iāve done alternating leg split squats with 20 more kilos as part of a complex in a not too distant past. I decided to call it quits on the leg work despite having planned to do linear hack squats.
Front squats were better than last time though.
I skipped on some ab-work too, I was getting a gnarly cramp in one of the ab muscles and couldnāt complete a set without having to reach up and stretch it out and massage it.
I believe my hips feel banged up after squats today was because I couldnāt get my right hamstring to participate appropriately, as I know I can back squat pain free ordinarily, but I imagine if my leg(s) arenāt doing their job Iām having to squat morning and thatās having some femurs crashing into some other boney things.
And elbow did not like back squats. Canāt wait for the SSB. And trap-bar. Will try and not have climbing on the same day as back squats and see if that is okay.
On elbow rehab, I called my physio but he has a four week waiting period, and I did that yesterday after this happening on Thursday
The rehab I was doing was self-administered. Seemingly it was working, I was becoming less symptomatic over time until the pop. Will give it a few days to sort out whatever acute trauma happened and then resume my rehab but two-on/one-off/one-on/one-off rather than daily.
My mind returns to the sentiments I posted here,
Anyway, Iāve rigged my phone to remind me with whatever exercises I need to do from the L-protocol and it should take between 50-80 days according to the science to heal up. Pretty sure itās the same injury as in the past (high hamstring strain) as sitting on it hurts.
Training is not making me feel awesome at the moment. I have however been feeling more energetic, athletic, and fit, but I donāt feel good at all. If I didnāt have all these tweaks everywhere Iād be really keen to do this at the moment
but I do have the tweaks so I have to work to fix that first. Not really ready to hop into that PPL-split I posted earlier, as Iām trying to have a life beyond training and thatās more training days but I will take that plunge if I need to. Iāll start by taking a note from this general idea nevertheless,
and employ the continuous ramp for now. Iāve worked hard for my back squat, I donāt want to bring it out of rotation if I can help it. And, it appears as if I can still back squat and deadlift without making my hamstring injury worse. Until I feel as if Iām actively harming my recovery I donāt want to swap them out just yet.
I will also acknowledge that despite seeing progress in the climbing hall and on upper body lifts I donāt think Iām eating enough to support my training but thatās another can of worms entirely. Got accepted to the eating disorder clinic, not sure when I start out-patient care there though so in the interim I picked up a book Iāve heard that they suggest for their patients to get ahead of things.
Iāve relapsed with regards to undereating and orthorexia as a response to working again (and gaining weight too fast for my comfort previously). And that certainly informs why so many joints are giving me the finger.
Interestingly, I read that climberās have a problem (maybe Iāve written about this already) with imbalances in their forearm wherein the āantagonistā muscles (flexors/extensors are a co-contraction kinetic chain) become weaker than the finger flexors. I.e., take an average person off of the street and their finger extensors will be stronger than the climbers. Allegedly, climbers will even sleep with their hands flexed which doesnāt allow adequate recovery to happen. One exercise to combat this is holding a weighted pinch grip and in the past I used to be able to do this with 12 kg. I re-tested today, and Iāve regressed 5 kilos! And this imbalance encourages tendonitis and/or pulley injuries. So that is something Iāll start doing every other day.
Mentally Iāve been in worse places, but I heard this lyric today and it is not far removed from my recent and ongoing experiences,
When suddenly I was engulfed with fear and panic
As my body began to fade
In this moment my mind was full of clarity
But my body insisted it was in danger
I looked around and I told myself I was safe, I was fine
But I was convinced that something was wrong
Before I knew it I felt as though I was going to
Fall and fade away
My body grew weak
And soon enough I found myself in a hospital bed being told what I went through was anxiety
I refused to believe this story
I searched and searched for the cause of what had happened to me
I began to feel detached from reality
I felt as though I was seeing the world through a glass
I got blood work done
Analysis of my mind and body to no avail
The doctor said it was anxiety
But how could it be anxiety?
How could anxiety make me physically feel off balance?
How could anxiety make me feel as though I was fading from this world and on the brink of death?
Derealization
The sense of being out of oneās body
Iām not here
Iām not me
Iām not real
Nothing is
Nothing but this feeling of panic
Nobody understands
Nobody knows the sufferings
This physical feeling
It canāt be anxiety
It canāt
Or can it?
Can it in fact be the mind controlling the body?
Yeah, of course
Iām so in control of my mind and my body
But Iām subconsciously forcing myself into a state
Of self bondage entangled by the ropes of my own mind
I am unhappy
Not with life
But with this feeling
I am scared, I am human, I am a man
But I look in the mirror and I see a child
I am an adult who recognize grown ups donāt really know shit
And they never did
And it scares me
Cause now Iām just a grown up who doesnāt know shit
But one thing is I do know this feeling, this horrible feeling is going to kill me
No, no this feeling
This anxiety is nothing
I have anxiety
Just like you, the person I wrote this for
And together we will overcome this feeling
We will remember despite the attacks and constant feeling of our mind and body being on the edge
That we are alive
And any moments we have free of this feeling we will not take for granted
We will rejoice in this gift that is life
We will rejoice in this day that we have been given
We will accept our anxiety and strive for the betterment of ourselves
Starting with mental health
We will accept ourselves as we are
And we will be happy with the person we see in the mirror
We will accept ourselves
And live with anxietyā Logic. Song: āAnzietyā
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God damn, those lyrics hit home.
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I agree with you there buddy.
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I hope youāre doing okay despite the challenges
The workouts look amazing!
Seeking treatment is a big and brave step. Hope it all goes well. Whenās the last time you deloaded?
Thank you!
Ended up with DOMS despite not finishing the workout so yay gains might have been made 
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Thank you. Quite a while, I donāt know how long in truth. My immediate plan is to change things up a bit and my guess is thatāll provide a deload of sorts as I change stimulus. Am I fooling myself?
Something like,
Press:
A. Ramp from
- BTN press (will check what the shoulder things) 4-5 sets, 5 reps
- Press 3 sets, 5 reps
- Push Press 3 sets, 5 reps
B. KB Press 3x10
C. Some row machine with straps
D1/D2. Face pulls and triceps
Squat
A. Ramp from
- Zercher Squat
- Front Squat
- Back Squat
Same sets and reps
B. Iso-linear Hack Squats 3x10-12
C. Leg extension 3x10-12
Then abs (have three ab workouts Iāll rotate between)
Bench
Same progression for main-lift as that is still progressing and then shoulder stuff and a vertical row. Very little chest work as I want to spend my time on reducing inward rotation of the shoulder. So that body part is on maintenance.
Deadlift
A. Gƶrner Deadlift
B. Romanian Deadlift, toes elevated, slow 3x10-12
C. Hip thrust, 4x4-8
D. Lying Leg Curl 3x10-12
Then abs, again from the rotation
Yes. Yes you are.
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Well, shit x)
Sorry dude, but youāve been trying to avoid doing a proper deload for a long time.
This is true, so no need for the apologies.
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Any deload recommendations as you are quite familiar with me?
Do nothing. Or very, very little. Thatās what I would recommend from a physiological point of view. Psychologically, itās going to be as close to that as you can get without getting uncomfortable. Now might be a good time to learn a new non physically demanding skill as a distraction.
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For a week or did you have something more radical in mind?
If a week, what are your thoughts (or anyone else reading) on the following?
Option 1 TM Training Test Week.
Honestly, I donāt really have a specific TM written down thatās been computed from a recent performance I just have weights that I use in training. I was thinking about projecting a TM, and then doing a TM Test Week (3-5 reps depending on if I go for 85/90%)
Training days would be, main lift test
Press day Face pulls 3x10-12
Squat day Leg extensions 3x10-12 really slow to stimulate my tendon
Bench day Face pulls 3x10-12
Deadlift day Lying leg curls 3x10-12
Option 2 Bodyweight training week
Day 1
Squats, Chin-up, Push-up: 2x Darden 30-10-30
Push-ups might be replaced with ring push-ups depending on what hurts least.
2-warmup sets with normal reps
Abs. Darden abdominal Stack
No exercise lasts more than 60 seconds and the entire cycle is over in approximately four minutes.
Reverse trunk curl
Trunk curl
Trunk curl with twist
Lying leg scissor
Full setup with knees bent
Day 2
Squats, Chin-up, Push-up & Crunches 3x iso-prefatigue (hold for 30 seconds, then 12-15 or AMRAP (<12))
2-warmup sets with normal reps
Day 3
Squats, Chin-up, Push-up 3xAMRAP 1+1/2 reps
2-warmup sets with normal reps
Swiss-ball crunch 3x30s
Seated knee tuck 3x30s
Hollow-body hold 3x30s
Analysis
I can probably push harder (effort wise - RPE) on option 2 which is a good thing psychologically. Not sure what that means deload-wise as it is only bodyweight exercises. With option 1 I risk doing other stupid shit as Iāll be in the gym. Will also commit to once per week not walk 8-10k+ steps and that goes for non-deload weeks as well.