Spidey: Eudaimonia

Training Training Logs
341

On second thought, I may give this a bit of time first. I’m still adapting to the beltless work and all the extra stress my core is under. I may need to give this stuff another 4 weeks at least, just to make sure I’m solid first.

Also thinking in 4 weeks, if I start this, I’ll probably just always Squat + Light DL variation on Monday/Friday, Flat Bench + Upper Tues/Saturday, and instead of always rotating I’ll just keep Wed/Thurs as variation days, consistently do Front Squats and Incline, then some other stuff. Want to give Bench + Squat a little more focus after this. Though i could change my mind by then, just thinking about it lol. Depends how much longer this cut lasts, because once I can tolerate some more volume and am in a surplus, I may switch to P/P/L split.

342

I’m going to set it up weird and do this

Clean plus squat session on monday
Snatch and deadlift on Wednesday
Clean and squat session on Friday

Snatch and deadlift session on Monday using this program
Clean and front squat on wednesday
Snatch and deadlift session 2 using this program

Not squatting in the 4s yet? C’mon big guy!

I had to wrap up wrestling training and travel. Itive also starred modeling and acting too so I’m mad busy. You been good?

343

[quote]Count Rockula wrote:
I’m going to set it up weird and do this

Clean plus squat session on monday
Snatch and deadlift on Wednesday
Clean and squat session on Friday

Snatch and deadlift session on Monday using this program
Clean and front squat on wednesday
Snatch and deadlift session 2 using this program

Not squatting in the 4s yet? C’mon big guy!

I had to wrap up wrestling training and travel. Itive also starred modeling and acting too so I’m mad busy. You been good?[/quote]

i hit the gym 6x a week, upper/lower/repeat/repeat/off, figured I’d just do this on the first and third lower day,save the middle for DL’s.

Haha I know man. I’ve had a ‘projected’ 400+ max for some time with my rep maxes, but I’m just better at reps. Once I’d get to about 85% of my proj max, form would crumble. So that’s why I’m trying to work on bracing and better form for the time being. Plus, last year I had like a year of zero progress. No idea why, I kept lifting, but I just had less passion for it, it was weird. lol

Modeling and acting? Wow awesome dude, glad things are taking off? You got any links, or are you still kind of staying ‘anonymous’ on these forums? My life’s going good, just got into all law schools I applied to, pretty excited about that haha

344

On the topic of reaching a higher weight squat, I tried for many years to break a 500lb squat by beltless squatting, safety squat bar squatting, front squatting, etc. Basically, things that would really challenge my core, because it seemed like everytime 500lbs got on my back it felt like a million pounds and my core couldn’t support it. However, despite my efforts, I couldn’t shake this feeling.

It wasn’t until I started regularly putting MORE than 500lbs on my back that a real 500lb squat wasn’t a big deal. Basically, training with lighter weights, even in conditions wherein the lighter weights FELT heavier, didn’t prepare my body to handle heavier weights as much as simply handling heavier weights did. Once I started doing a lot of partials, reverse band work and concentric only squats, I had finally trained my body to be “at peace” with heavier weight on the back.

Not trying to sway your training at the moment, but just wanted to offer my perspective and maybe an alternate way to vector your training in the future.

345

Lol I was just about to say do walk outs and lowering the weight dow to the pins…

Things arent taking off
Lol these are the dard years were I pay my dues. I’m basically homeless and have no phone. Traveling to wrestle sucks every dime I make from modeling and acting. Its fun though and hooefully leads somewhere. With my history on this site and how personal things got in real life with my friends on here id rather not show too much of me. I’ll post a pic from my portfolio though.

Congrats on law school! Study hard. I’ll need you someday lol

346

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Beauty and the beast

347

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…

348

[quote]Count Rockula wrote:
Lol I was just about to say do walk outs and lowering the weight dow to the pins…

Things arent taking off
Lol these are the dard years were I pay my dues. I’m basically homeless and have no phone. Traveling to wrestle sucks every dime I make from modeling and acting. Its fun though and hooefully leads somewhere. With my history on this site and how personal things got in real life with my friends on here id rather not show too much of me. I’ll post a pic from my portfolio though.

Congrats on law school! Study hard. I’ll need you someday lol[/quote]

Shit dude, I didn’t know breaking into the business was that stressful! I know that’s got to be rough, but you seem to have the work ethic and will power to get you there.

I remember people used to pretend you weren’t ‘real’ on this site. That was weird hope it didn’t leak into the real world too much. Pics are really cool, first one I thought was some deranged version of Casey Jones and April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles though haha.

349

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
On the topic of reaching a higher weight squat, I tried for many years to break a 500lb squat by beltless squatting, safety squat bar squatting, front squatting, etc. Basically, things that would really challenge my core, because it seemed like everytime 500lbs got on my back it felt like a million pounds and my core couldn’t support it. However, despite my efforts, I couldn’t shake this feeling.

It wasn’t until I started regularly putting MORE than 500lbs on my back that a real 500lb squat wasn’t a big deal. Basically, training with lighter weights, even in conditions wherein the lighter weights FELT heavier, didn’t prepare my body to handle heavier weights as much as simply handling heavier weights did. Once I started doing a lot of partials, reverse band work and concentric only squats, I had finally trained my body to be “at peace” with heavier weight on the back.

Not trying to sway your training at the moment, but just wanted to offer my perspective and maybe an alternate way to vector your training in the future.[/quote]

That’s actually why I started doing the ‘over-warm ups’ before my working sets, just to consistently get heavier weight on my back and make me not ‘afraid’ to fail a heavy weight.

I’ve thought about incorporating partials and such, but I’m also hesitant to ‘over complicate’ my training, as many people at my level do, where I’m strong enough to benefit from some programming but not strong enough to warrant something all too technical.

The way my Squat rack is, I can’t figure out how to ‘safely’ do reverse band stuff. Honestly even doing your tow strap/chain method kind of rattles me, because my Squat rack is so easily moved, even when racking my weigh it jostles a bit. I may just, on my heavy days, start working up to a heavy triple on Pin Squats, slightly above parallel.

350

Today was my last day before a 3 day break, so decided to do some random shit

Push Press: Did singles, all the way up from 115 to 165, going up 5 lbs, so it took awhile lol. Also beltless, if you happen to care
165x1
135x3x3

Mat Pulls: So I know I did these yesterday, but I was so pissed off yesterday about the circumstances I just did them again. Was a bit fatigued obviously, so did TnG. Literally just strapped up and pretended I was trying to bust through concrete and my dick was a jack hammer. So was just trying to really get my hip to get some work in. Also, I’m at that awkward body fat where I’ moderately lean, but what fat is left is all on my lower back/sides, so the jiggle in the video is gross. Also, not sure why the entire video loaded, but jump to about 40 secs in to skip my set up and all that.

(7) 455x10

Then I did some high incline DB presses, fat grip chins, and DB Rows with hook grip, all 12-30 reps. Was basically a delt+back day, but just wanted to get a lot of work in. Going to be busy the next few days anyways, but just having the weekend to let my body recover will hopefully help me get into the groove of things

351

Your rack is MUCH more heavy duty than mine is, haha. It should be able to handle suspending chains/bands across the cross beams. But yeah, don’t overcomplicate things for now, keep doing what’s working. This is more just something to think about in the future.

352

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Your rack is MUCH more heavy duty than mine is, haha. It should be able to handle suspending chains/bands across the cross beams. But yeah, don’t overcomplicate things for now, keep doing what’s working. This is more just something to think about in the future.[/quote]

Yeah honestly I’ve got some tow straps in my garage, never get used. Could get them, buy some chains like Lorez did, and at the very least I have a variation to work with.

Curious, I know you do chain loaded DLs, have you messed with chain loading Squats or Bench much? Maybe working up to heavier weights before my working sets with chains, would allow me still get practice with full ROM, while still having that ‘heavy’ weight on my back/in my hands, at least at the top.

353

Did some cardio. Weight is really fluctuating a lot, maybe from stress and weird sleep. Really at that awkward fat point, where really I’m getting pretty lean, but lower back is still flabby and almost makes me look ‘worse’ in my eyes lol

Typical diet looks like:

Wake up: Coffee + Pro Shake

Lift

PWO: 16oz of meat OR 8oz meat + 1 cup cottage cheese, veggies

Go to work, 7-10 hr shift usually

Dinner: 8-12 oz meat, 1-2 cups starch (potatoes, pasta, rice), veggies, and usually some brown gravy to moisten it all up (packet gravy, adds like 4 carbs or something so don’t mind wasting those for taste lol)

Snack: Pro Shake, then kind of depends on how fatty my cuts of meat were for the day. If beef, usually this is just some shredded mini wheats + skim milk. If I have fats left, I’ve been eating some cinnamon bagels with natty PB, or my new favorite Banana+PB+marshmallow sandwich lol. Last night I had two small slices of cheesecake left over from easter, so really this is my ‘variable’ meal.

354

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Your rack is MUCH more heavy duty than mine is, haha. It should be able to handle suspending chains/bands across the cross beams. But yeah, don’t overcomplicate things for now, keep doing what’s working. This is more just something to think about in the future.[/quote]

Yeah honestly I’ve got some tow straps in my garage, never get used. Could get them, buy some chains like Lorez did, and at the very least I have a variation to work with.

Curious, I know you do chain loaded DLs, have you messed with chain loading Squats or Bench much? Maybe working up to heavier weights before my working sets with chains, would allow me still get practice with full ROM, while still having that ‘heavy’ weight on my back/in my hands, at least at the top. [/quote]

100% of my safety squat bar squats are with chains. The movement doesn’t feel as good without them for some reason. I’ve used chains on all sorts of movements, to include squat and bench. They’re pretty awesome.

How you’re discussing using them is how I rehabbed my back about 7 years ago, allowing me to have a lighter weight at my most vulnerable part in the movement while still having a heavy weight at the end. A great technique. I also like using them simply as a way to create variety with a limited toolbox.

355

So took 3 days off, thinking it would help me feel a bit better. However today still kind of felt shitty, so I just did a little less volume, will probably do so for the week

Front Squats: Upper back just keeps rounding
245x2x1
235x2
225x3

Breathing Front Squats:
205x2x5 breaths

Snatch Grip RDL:
225x2x7

4 sets of delts total

Not really sure if I’m just a bit mentally drained, lower cals are starting to take effect, or I genuinely pushed the intensity/volume up a bit too fast, I’m just not feeling too awesome. Not tight or anything, I actually feel mobility is rocking. I just feel disconnected from the bar if that makes sense, like I just can’t get everything firing.

My upper back is also just weak as fuck. I’m doing rows, chins, face pulls, pull aparts, rear delt flies, and DL variations pretty much daily, but maintaining position for Squats is just still a weakness, and it’s frustrating to be getting the ‘bracing’ down but still having something else screw up lol.

Still thinking of just doing the Russian program for squats, the Mat Pulls ROM progression for DL, and then maybe Cube Predator for Bench. I know that seems like a lot of shit to throw together, but idk if I’ll be able to keep hitting PR’s every session at this point, so maybe having some progression model could help. I may just look at those programs, get a ‘gist’ or what’s going on, and then kind of do a simplistic version.

Idk I’m kind of everywhere right now, but all the stress is paying off. Got a scholarship offer from my top choice of law school. It’s not a full-ride or anything, but still cool, and now another school said they may be willing to better the offer if it’ll influence my decision. So while training seems to have dipped a tad, other stuff’s going ok.

356

^ School is more important than lifting and that’s going well so don’t get too discouraged.

Your body works as a system so that’s something you’ll always have to keep in mind. You’re strengthening your upper/mid back through accessory work but you still need to make sure these muscles are being recruited in the main lift, which is more important. When using your lats for torso stabilization in the squat, your chest also has to be engaged. Both muscles pull against the humerous and the harder one side pulls, the other side has to match it since the humerous remains stationary.

Make sure to keep your chest up in the lifts too. I basically hyper extend my entire spine and my ab bracing brings my lower spine into neutral position while neck packing brings my upper spine into neutral position. The lats and chest reinforce the mid section.

357

[quote]lift206 wrote:
^ School is more important than lifting and that’s going well so don’t get too discouraged.

Your body works as a system so that’s something you’ll always have to keep in mind. You’re strengthening your upper/mid back through accessory work but you still need to make sure these muscles are being recruited in the main lift, which is more important. When using your lats for torso stabilization in the squat, your chest also has to be engaged. Both muscles pull against the humerous and the harder one side pulls, the other side has to match it since the humerous remains stationary.

Make sure to keep your chest up in the lifts too. I basically hyper extend my entire spine and my ab bracing brings my lower spine into neutral position while neck packing brings my upper spine into neutral position. The lats and chest reinforce the mid section.[/quote]

That’s true in regards to school.

The chest thing makes sense, I wasn’t even thinking about it really. But the hyperextending, but then bracing to make it neutral is a really awesome cue, doing right now sitting here, definitely a better position.

358

Didn’t do a ton of volume today, but got in some good work

High Bar Squats: Beltless
270x3x1

260x3

Sumo Mat Pulls (6): Worked up to a single without straps, to just see what hook grip was cool with
495x1
455x8

Then some delt stuff

Easy, solid workout. Squats didn’t look that bad IMO. Looking at the GZCL method for a kind of ‘model’ to insert some progression into my lifting. Also tried this weird thing I read, Squatting with pinky under the bar. Seemed to help with keeping my lats tight a lot.

359

Hey guys, been out of town. Lifted with friends, did reallyyyy high volume workouts with a lot of cables/machines, was nice change of pace and I’m still sore

Regardless, back to the grind today. Starting a small mini-training cycle, will explain in another post

Back Squats: Little bit of chest dip on last sets, but considering my fatigue I’m ok with this. Video last set
275x1
260x5x3

Front Squats: How people do these for legitimate high reps, Idk
175x4x7

SG RDL’s:
205x3x10

SG High Pulls: Idk, like a giant RP set with really fast reps.
205x5+3+1+1+1

Then some delts stuff. Good workout, doing some more ‘volume’ for a bit, and not going to do AMRAP sets every week like before, maybe every 3-4 weeks. Had a nice fun weekend with friends, got little sleep but honestly gave me a ‘fresh’ start mentally. Definitely needed it. I’m also 192-193 most mornings now, will finish the cut strong for 4-6 more weeks, then reverse diet for 2-4 weeks. I know i’m small for my height, but I like being lean, and I want some solid wiggle room BF% wise going into summer and law school.

360

So I’m a big fan of Cody Lefever. He Youtubes and posts under ‘GZCL’ and has a method that is really more so just a frame work to help yourself program. He calls training a pyramid, and pretty much he breaks up lifts into ‘tiers’. You can google his stuff, but really the blueprint I’m using is:

  1. T1: Main Movement, 85-100% of Goal Weight, 10-15 total reps, this is a single exercise.

  2. T2: Primary Assistance, 65-85% of Goal Weight, 20-30 total reps. One to two different exercises.

  3. T3: Secondary Assistance, 65% or less of Goal Weight, 30+ total reps. One to three different exercises

So I’m picking 4 movements: Hybrid Back Squat, Front Squat, Flat Bench, Incline Bench

So my workouts will be:

Monday: T1 Squats, T2 Front Squats
Tuesday: T1 Bench, T2 Incline Bench
Wednesday: Mat Pulls, Lower T3/Hypertrophy
Thursday: Upper T3/Hypertrophy
Friday: T1 Front Squats, T2 Squats
Saturday: T1 Incline, T2 Bench

There will be a little Tier 3 work at the end of every workout, for delts, upper back, arms, or something. Wednesday and Thursday will be some lighter variations, pauses, High Bar, wide grip or close grip bench, probably always 10+ reps. It’s not that different then the program I’m already on, I’m just putting some structure to it. I was also thinking of going High Incline Press as opposed to just Incline Press, Idk yet though.