Oh shit, it looks like gyms might be opening up on again on Monday.
I…don’t know what to do with this info. I want to go to the damn gym. But what will I do there! What will the rules be! Will I suck at everything!
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I always suspected your relationship to have a deeper level. I am happy for the two of you!
That’s a lot quicker than August. Just bring Bob to kick the shit out of anyone who comes within two metres of you.
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Pfft, you seem to be confused about who is in charge of this relationship.
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Assert dominance by push pressing people’s squat weight
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Well it depends on how much they squat, but that is the general idea.
Day C+87
Wasn’t sure how hard to go or if I should just take a day off. As it turns out, my gym will not open tomorrow…they have permission in theory, but they have not been given the guidelines yet, and it could take a few days to adapt to them once they have them. So long story short, here’s some pull-ups:
Pull-Up
- 5 reps
- 5 reps
- 5 reps
- 5 reps
- 10 reps
- 10 reps
- 10 reps
- 10 reps
- 15 reps
- 15 reps
- 15 reps
- 15 reps
Not exactly easy, but also not very taxing. Also had another good session with Bob. Doing that 3 or more times a week seems to pay dividends.
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Day C+88
Placeholder deadlifts. Nothing tough, other than the equipment being awkward and sucky. Last three were just isometric holds to work on grip a little.
-
Barbell Deadlift
- 25 kg x 5 reps
- 45 kg x 6 reps
- 65 kg x 6 reps
- 75 kg x 6 reps
- 83 kg x 10 reps
- 83 kg x 10 reps
- 83 kg x 10 reps
- 83 kg x 10 reps
- 83 kg x 1 reps
- 83 kg x 1 reps
- 83 kg x 1 reps
-
Ab Wheel (kneeling)
- 10 reps
- 10 reps
-
Ab Wheel (standing)
- 3 reps
- 8 reps
Will be interesting to see if those 8 ab wheel rolls will hurt tomorrow.
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What did ur deadlift look like before lockdown. I think I started interacting with u after. Was it sexy?
All deadlifts are sexy if you’re sexy.
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In that case, mine were EXTREMELY sexy.
Well, pre-lockdown was the version of me who was shedding weight, so nothing noteworthy in that period. I also don’t pull very heavy any more, by design. Horrific back injury about 7 years ago. I pulled 190 just before lockdown, but I know I theoretically had 200 in me. Going back to 9 months ago I was doing 531, and I think my topset was 150 for 13 reps or something. My frame and muscles are built for deadlifting (as opposed to squats), but sadly the discs in my lower back have other plans.
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For sure, I’d hit that. No homo, of course.
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Sounds like u needa go pirate Stuart McGills books. It helped me out loads after back injury last year. A good 6 months off deads/bench but I’ve worked my way back to being healthier and stronger than before.
What was the nature of your injury? In my case, I was basically bed-ridden for 5 weeks, could effectively not walk for much of that time.
In my case, I am pre-disposed to back issues and I doubt there is any safe way for me to get back to where I once was. Just the compression of the discs puts me into dangerous territory.
Never found out the exact structure that was causing issues. The treatment approach was movement based so didn’t matter what the exact anatomical structure was.
It’s long story but I’m a believer that there’s a lot of help for people in McGill’s work. For some it might mean living a life free of pain and fear of pain/movement for many like myself it means being able to pursue the gains again. He has helped people significantly more disabled then u or I get their lives back and live it to the full.
Hmm, maybe. It is a risk/reward thing, though, for me. At 47, I don’t know that I need to lift triple my BW.
There certainly is a fear element. I no longer lift with any speed from the floor, because I have become gun shy.
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Day C+89
Biceps(es) and Bob today. Nothing special. My gym will open up on Thursday, so I gotta figure out if I will be able to make it there that day. I mean, I can, but it would probably be right in the rush. I assume it is going to be bonkers with people trying to get in.
More importantly, I gotta figure out just WTF to do with myself now that I can use real equipment. Pretty sure the first week or two will just be feeling things out and getting the measure of where I am (I am looking at you, OHP, you damn sonofabitch). Once I do that, I think I need to hop back onto some program for a while. Maybe a 531 variation less insane than the one I usually do. I could always try something else, but I always get good strength result from 531, owing in part to being totally insane.
It’s a thinker.
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What is your “insane” version of 531, because I’m also a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
I only call it “insane” because it is not the way everyone else seems to do it. The basic idea from the beginning is that I am not going for the 5, the 3 and the 1 rep as the program prescribes for the 3 week cycle. So the sixth set (which is the 3 warmup sets plus the 3 working sets) I am generally aiming for 10 reps, and really doing it as an AMRAP. So already it is a lot more volume, and it also has me pushing things harder than if I did the prescribed reps.
On top of that, I do the Big But Boring variation, the original one that has you doing 5 additional sets at like 50 to 70% of max. For 10 reps. Those last five sets are money. But they are called Boring for a reason. I also often do that very last of those sets as an AMRAP, so maybe it will go for 15 or 20.
And then you do a supplemental 5 sets of one of the other main lifts. So like on squat day, I will add 5 sets of bench (10 reps at 50 to 70%), and vice versa.
Anyway, that is the numbers part. The sum total of all that is that EVERY session is a PR session. You are always trying to set a rep record, every single day. It is a completely different mindset…instead of thinking “oh, I have to squat 120 for 5 today according to the program” you will go into it thinking “oh, I have to squat 120 at least 5 times, and actually I am going to keep going for as many as I can and also I did it 12 times 3 weeks ago so this time I really need to hit 13 and OMG that is going to fucking suck I don’t even think I can do that and then fuck me but I have to do 5 more sets of 10 at 75 kilo immediately after that”
After a few cycles, it is damn hard to keep that up.
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That sounds almost exactly like my “go to” set up, especially for bench. I like to do main set for rep PRs, which sounds similar to your approach, then BBB, then some kind of isolation work for what I pretend to myself is the prime movers, plus whatever “balancing work” I need.
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Yeah, I think there are a couple of us old school types, and I forgot you were one of them. Might only be us two. The only other thing beyond that that makes my approach unusual is that I aim for minimum 10 reps for the PR sets, so higher volume with a slightly lighter weight. Anything less than 10 is a disappointment and probably a sign that I need to adjust something or take a break.