Another solid workout in the books. My barbell row is getting pretty ridiculous by my standards these days. When I initially made the foray into 200+ territory I couldn’t really feel the back working at all and I was only good for about 3 pretty loose reps. I’m hitting double that with strict reps and solid MMC in most of the back. Call it a win.
Bench felt strong today. Pre-workout today was a couple beers on the porch. Absolutely beautiful out and needed to enjoy the weather with some friends before I resigned myself to the basement. Made for a surprisingly great workout. Just sticking with the rest/pause assistance for now because it’s mindless aside from counting reps.
@ChongLordUno I have a similar situation. My S/O enjoys “conquering nature” with me, but she was never really into that prior to meeting me so it’s been a slow build up as absences from doing so tend to have a hard reset effect. Looking forward to the summer weather so I can get her and the pup out there.
@aldebaran Yeah man I almost feel more awake when I’m out on the trails, for lack of a better term. Some of the photos you’ve put up in your log of the hikes you’ve done look awesome. Just a totally different terrain than what I have local.
This hike was a blast. Had a friend join which levels up the fun right off the bat usually. We opted to take the quick but strenuous route up the ski resort rather than the longer approach on the AT. I’d have preferred the latter because there’s some cool features on that trail, but the mountain is nearly a 3 hour drive from home and I needed to save time somewhere. Would definitely come back for a summer trip at some point.
We meandered quite a bit in the beginning trying to find the proper trail. You could choose any of the ski trails and they all ultimately lead to the summit, but we wanted to stick as close as possible to the pre-determined route online. We mostly stuck to the uphill skinning trail with some short bouts on the ski trails themselves. Snowshoes the whole way which made life easier and harder simultaneously. Really cool trail to the top though.
The ridge is incredible, but the conditions were brutal. Very slick, very slushy, very wet, and very cold feet. Once again it got to the point where our shoes couldn’t get any more wet so we just started wading through slush and puddles rather than trying to get around them. It was some of the coldest water I’ve ever experienced and each dunk elicited a comment. All laughs though.
This trail being an out-and-back called for the majority of the hard work on that ridge as there was a fair bit of steepness on either side of the col. We made pretty quick workout of it though and rewarded ourselves by “skating” down the ski trails in our boots. Snow was a little too tacky to butt slide but we had some good speed sliding on our heels. Got blasted by the sun and am rocking a serious neck/face tan already this year.
Pretty unfocused during the early part of this workout but everything was solid. Mind was just wandering elsewhere until the top set which I was able to smoke pretty easily again, which I should as this is still supremely sub max.
Legs were decently tired today. I got a couple extra miles of hiking and trail running chasing dogs with some friends yesterday, and got another couple miles jogging in this morning with my pup. I don’t log any of that kind of stuff, but I was feeling it during the end of the squats today haha. My shin muscles (front calves, whatever they’re called) are feeling beat today.
@kdjohn No doubt man, I’m spoiled by my natural surroundings. I’d love to experience more of the western parts of the country where everything is just bigger but my own little pocket of the world here really punches up with the giants.
Decent enough workout for the circumstances. Wrestled a gigantic spare fridge into my basement and pulled something in my oblique area right before this. Work has been wild this week so sleep and food has been all over the place, and I had to split this over two days so I can get on the road again. I’ll be able to finish the workout late tomorrow when I get home.
@ChongLordUno I legit get excited when I see you post in my log haha. I’m not sure what you do for work but if it doesn’t pan out motivational speaking (or writing) could be a solid avenue.
@Bagsy Not too many people out there this time of year which makes the hikes that much better. We really only get the locals and folks who are really dedicated so when you do cross paths with them it’s usually pretty pleasant. Once summer weather hits I’ll be singing a different tune though. Lots of dudes playing Sublime from their bluetooth speakers on the trails in my future
Guys like me and you don’t need motivation. We just need to fulfill our obligation to the iron and weight which has become, through discipline, infused to our hearts and souls
Finishing up yesterdays work. Body is pissed and I think a good portion of that is owed to spending a lot of hours behind the wheel and sleeping in hotel beds this week. Hopefully we can fill some positions and this doesn’t persist.
Decided to up the weight by 5lbs for this since I was pretty close to completing the 5x10 last week and it was a standalone day so I’d have a little more juice. Super dehydrated today so I think if I had a little more water today I’d have gotten all the reps at this weight but I’m happy either way. I’m not sure what my best 5x10 is for the strict press but this has to be close and I had all the extra work going on as well.
Digging this workout. Pretty quick and the pump is ludicrous by the time I’m done. Opted for straight sets on the row today instead of ramping just to change it up. Been sleepwalking through the entire day but feeling good now. Time to eat a huge dinner and chill.
Decided to enjoy the nice weather again on bench day this week and take the pup for a long walk through the woods and then meet up with some friends for beers and pizza. Figured since you lay down to bench doing it later at night would be fitting. I’m starting to think I’m on to something with the beers pre-workout for benching cause the weight has never felt lighter. Probably just luck but I’ll take it.
Got the expansion for my powerblocks so had to try them out. Stoked to have some heavier weights to grow into on the DBs again. Should be able to ride those 70s out for a while before I have to upgrade again.
@ChongLordUno Strongman competitions are missing a golden opportunity by using kegs for everything when they could be using iron casks. Appreciate the words man.
Fantastic day on the trails with a couple buddies yesterday. I’ve done Whiteface before, but totally forgot how great of a hike it is. For a couple shorter peaks this was no cake walk. The inclines are super steep, nothing in the way of switchbacks on these trails. Couple that with some spring conditions and you’ve got a recipe for quite an “adventurous” day.
It’s not the most picturesque hike (though they never do the views justice anyway) but the features are awesome. The forest sections of the hike feel very Tolkien, and then you have huge exposed sections of slab that require more scrambling than hiking, especially in the wet conditions. Peaks were pretty obscured, as is the case at this height, but trail views and conditions made up for it.
Had ourselves a bit more of an adventure during the descent by adding a few miles and extending the loop. Got caught up overestimating our speed trying to read the map and thinking we were getting ourselves lost until we got to our trail junction. The network here is phenomenal and you could hike an absurd number of trail combinations. I’ll think back to this trip fondly.
Workout was fine. Legs were feeling tired but not necessarily sore today, knees weren’t all that happy though. Did a bunch of bodyweight free squats and then bodyweight squats to the box and that seemed to help once there was blood moving around there. By the time I got to my work sets I was feeling pretty good, and once the workout was over I felt fine walking upstairs. 5s week turned out to be pretty therapeutic post hike. Sub max weights for the win today.
NG chins: (widest to narrowest grip)
BWx10 - mid-close grip
+35x3x6
+35x2x5
Axle press:
50x10
80x5
100x5
110x5
120x6
110x7
Side plank:
x20s/side
Poundstone curls:
x114
Going to have a funky day today so thought it made the most sense to split the workout again. Going to hit the supplemental stuff later this afternoon. Was pretty happy with how this first portion went. Got my rep goal on my top set without too much drama, but the 7th wasn’t there. Took me 3 unracks to have a go at the SSL set, had to put the first two tries back down and make sure I didn’t throw up. Stomach doesn’t like the early morning bracing apparently.
Curls were painful per usual, though my forearms seemed to recover much quicker than they normally do. Helpful, since I needed to make breakfast right after this.
Second covid shot coming this morning so I wanted to make sure I got this portion of the workout done in the event it beats me up pretty good. I’ll knock out the supplemental this afternoon after my work shift.
Surprised at how well this went. Figured I’d see some regression here due to it being a same day workout rather than two separate days, and I’m 10 hours removed from the second vaccine shot. I warmed up with 50 (“the bar”) and that felt like much more. The first set was brutal. The rest of the sets were much less so, and I really thought I’d get all 10 on the last one but I just ran out of steam. Wound up with 1 rep more than last week. I’ll take that every time.
Came into this in some weird negative head space and came out of it feeling much better. The last rep of those BB rows had a fair amount of body english so I’m not counting it as a true six. Felt like I was floating on the chins after and the pullovers were getting a good flush in the back. The added weight for the DBs makes chest supported rows a real possibility now too.
