Pretty good session in the heat. 35 degrees (95 in freedom units), and Very high humidity. Worst conditions for training honestly. It’s a war on water consumption.
Squats felt good, but still feel So weak. Not a fan of that weakness feeling…But they are coming along slowly. 5kg up again.
Bench was ok. Just felt so sapped energy wise towards the end of those. Reps kept coming though.
Accessories were accessorized. They are what they are.
in other news I bought an Tib raise bar thing. Started using that today in the warmups before the leg extensions. See how that goes for the knees.
Press was Fun. First time pressing properly without pain in 9 months. Everything feels fine now finally. It was still a little tight last session. That’s gone now too. Was Scared. 70x3 is Not bloody bad all things considered! Hopefully now I can just build almost normally, and get back to chasing PB’s.
deadlift was fine. I’m tired of them, I really am. Like the movement is just…ugh. Not really unexpected, ill get over it.
ham curls for the accessory of the day, just building then up.
Fin.
Still dig this little thing. I drove it this morning on a few errands…it’s so belligerent. . Drove it through a shopping mall carpark…always amusing as it crackles and pops off throttles .
Drinks oil like it’s going out of fashion due to worn Valve stem seals, and it probably will need new shocks (hilariously cheap for such JCW OEM luckily) soon, but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on four wheels in 25 years of driving.
105.5x15 - bodyweight plus 2.5kg. - 232.6lbs
105.5x15
Notes:
Squats were difficult. Why? It’s 85 damn kg. Feels like an empty bar on my back…but feels like 185kg in the hole. It’s a weird thing. Just me getting used to them again I guess.
bench was good. Took the same weight as last time for 5x5, and it was indeed easier this time. Increase next time.
accessories were good. Pendlay rows back in for now for some back work that isn’t boring me to death. 90kg was conservative, but a good starting point. I’ll just work them up like anything else.
glute raises getting Warm. I keep them so incredibly strict, they almost burn on rep One haha. Need them.
head cold still here. Not happy about it. Coughing up a lung as I type this. Didn’t cough the whole session…but now that I’m cooking down, here it comes. I’ll smash another honey/lemon/ginger tea and keep pushing on with life. . Not affecting my body noticibly at all luckily.
Videos later, going in the pool…supposed to be autumn, but it’s 30 degrees here again - 86f
Havnt shaken this illness that flared on me. Mostly just a heinous cough that hasnt let up as yet…
Have taken a week off the weights to try and see it off. Decent amount of walking each day, but anything particulary strenous just puts me into a coughing fit. Crazy town.
Decided to train today. Went Okay. Certainly not as much coughing as i was expecting and got from brisk walking recently…
Just picked up where i left off.
SSB Squats:
22.5x5
22.5x2
72.5x2
87.5x1
87.5x5 - 192.9lbs
87.5x5
87.5x5
Press:
20x8
40x6
50x5 - 110.2lbs
50x5
50x5
Chinups:
106.5x5 - 234.8lbs
106.5x5
106.5x5
106.5x5
Ham Curls:
10x15
22x15 - 48.5lbs
22x15
Notes:
Squats were a bit sus warming up, and the first set i messed up with too narrow a stance - why? Dont know. Sets 2 and 3 though, felt great. Wider stance, much more dialled in. Still continuing without the knee sleeves for now, but have added a belt recently. Feels nice.
Press…It’s so nice to have this back as a regular movement. 50kg was easy, but today IS a light day for pressing movements. So nice to be using 50kg as the light load.
Chinups back now also, my shoulder was impeding those too. 106.5kg in my gear, shoes still on. Were Super easy, so will progress these right away.
Ham curls for the accessories, full control on every rep as usual. Extra 1kg as planned.
Squats were good. Although a tightness in my left adductor/hamstring during bench has me a little spooked. No reason to panic, don’t need to squat again until Monday. Potentially a little dehydrated, but I don’t know, drinking plenty of fluids. Epic humidity level here today.
Bench was difficult. Wanted 5, stopped after the 3rd. Not really a surprise I guess. Really should have taken a smaller step back here after my last week or two. Can always do that next time.
Deadlifts were fine, not really heavy being the starting point for this block.
Now coughing a bit while I type this up. Really annoying …saw the doc again today, gave me a steroid inhaler preventer thing. Has no idea why I’m coughing except my throat looks irritated. It’s not sore. Nothing is sore, no fevers, no headaches, no fatigue aside from having my sleep interrupted and my lungs sound as they should. See what happens with this thing and the allergy spray. Sinus just continues to produce clear annoying thin mucus. Been great. No congestion. No nothing else symptom wise.
oh well, I guess we just carry on and put up with it for a little while and see if this stuff helps, or if it clears up etc. Doc giving me 4 weeks to clear it up because we again look further. But yeah it’s been 4 weeks. All started with a head cold that was barely any kind of reportable hindrance, and has become this. Makes me wonder if I should have just taken a few days off when it all started instead of pushing through…
So…turns out I have had whooping cough again this whole damn time. I’m feeling better this morning, but not clear. Was sick again the whole weekend which sucked a lot. On the plus side, it poured with rain all weekend, so didn’t miss much LOL.
Explains why training has been so difficult the last couple weeks. I am on antibiotics, which appear to helping, and incidentally the ones chosen by my doc initially are statistically the best ones for this, so she saved me some time I think.
My poor mum has got it now, too. No idea where I got it from. My only guess is my wife or daughter brought it home, and we’re not affected. I think my daughter had a cough a few weeks ago for about 3 days. She is vaccinated…I am not. I had it in 2019…and was told I didn’t need a vax for it for a good 5 years. Classic for me to get it again in the 6th year lol. I’m told in that situation it’s never nearly as bad, as that has held true, it’s about 1/4 as bad as 2019 where I didn’t train for 8 weeks…I’ve been able to maintain Something this time, last time I could even walk up the driveway without going into a coughing fit. And that would have 30x per day. I’m fitting maybe 5x per day this time, and mostly at night. Nothing yet today thankfully, first morning I’ve gotten up without having a coughing fit in 2 weeks.
My mates are all up to date with their annoculations, and no one showing any symptoms thankfully.
Setting a timer for 5 years for next shot. LOL.
I was going to try and train today, but now knowing what is going on, I’ll leave it a couple more days.
Dude! That’s crazy. It’s weird that it took them this long to diagnose you since you’ve been to the doc a couple times. I’m glad it’s not as bad as 2019, but it’s still kinda terrible. I’ll set my timer for 5 years for you too. Let’s not be doing this again! lol
I mentoined it was probably possible, too. What is it with Doctors and insistance on nailing down thier own diagnonis’ without external input? Its an ego thing right?
When giving me the test form for the bacteria, acting like it was thier own idea, too LOL.
At first last week they suggested it might be a pnumonia, but i knew, and insisted that it wasnt…and had to push not to have a chest xray, lol. Had to insist my capacity to do things was not at all diminished, and my chest is perfectly clear!, so how could it be that? Havnt been able to see my regular doc as she is damn busy! But i do feel like she wouldnt have missed it.
The mutts are growing well, 10kg a peice now, at 5 months…going to be about 13kg we hope. But…having that Siberian Husky gene, it could be a lucky dip between thier current weight and about 20kg LOL. They are much longer and taller than my old girls, despite now weighing the same…
They are turning into wonderful dogs though, they really are. Shadow, we thought was completely bonkers…we now think is actually way more intelligent than her sister. Thought its like she has ADHD!! When alone with her, her intelligence its very clear, and she has picked up on more or less Every training cue we were teaching them together.
We’ve hired a trainer now, which starts wednesday, to really drive home the obedience, and fix a few small reactive behaviours. They will take one dog away at a time, all day, each wedesnday until we are happy with them basically. They come recommended by a couple of different friends, both of which own beautiful and obedient aussie shephards…I can train them myself, for sure, but two is Hard LOL. I can afford it, so why not.
See below. Sometimes…you can see the craziness in Shadows eyes LOL. She cannot sit still, its hilarious. This rare moment below…Winter on the other hand is definately an old soul. Loves to just chill out…hard for her as you can imagine with a sister like Shadow haha. Wont be long now and they will be joining me in the gym - they still want to chew my shoelaces and straps while setting up for a set…or will jump up on me during a bench set, found that out the hard way.
CAN recommend this breed though, 100%. Perfect mix. The pomeranian keeps thier size down, and the Husky provides the good looks and temperment!
Very light start. Oddly, it still felt difficult, not the squats though interestingly. Started coughing right at the end of the deadlift set…but, I am winning the battle, and the coughing is subsiding about 10-15% per day.
The weights weren’t heavy, nor did they Feel it, just the effort felt rough. Expected it, but that could have contributed, too?
Back to the squats. Been wanting to come back and have another go at low bar squatting. Got the body moving and warmed up appropriately, and they felt Good…much better infact than the SSB stuff I was playing with. I want to see where they go…plus I want the booty hypertrophy back. .
bodyweight was the same this morning at 103.0kg. Will continue with maintenance for a few weeks until I’m 100% clear.
Sleep has improved the last 3 nights. No waking up coughing…meaning there has been less mucus production. Also means I just cough it all out in the AM haha. But after that, I just get on with my day…Havn’t had a coughing fit in two days, which has been nice. . Largely with whooping cough, the coughing is unproductive, which only adds to the frustration.
Yeah ok. We back. Still coughing. More mucus today than the last week…but feeling Tip Top, and very little coughing.
Squats:
20x5
20x5
40x5
40x5
60x2
70x5 - 154.3lbs
70x5
70x5
Bench:
40x5
40x5
60x5 - 132.2lbs
60x5
60x5
60x5
Deadlift:
60x5
60x5
80x2
110x5 - 242.5lbs
Notes:
Happy. Squats felt Even better today. Like actually really nice movements. Low bar also. I’m finding warming up bare foot, then throwing the heels on to be the go. On top of regular warmup routine.
Bench was good also, I mean it’s bloody light, everything is, but it felt super dialled.
Deadlift super light, using double overhand again until I cannot, then back to straps. I won’t bother with mixed grip unless I compete, only takes a few sessions to flip that switch. Just with my shoulder issues, I’m wanting everything moving right and tight.
In other news, I’ve enlisted another Sucker to my methods. He’s kind of build like @simo74 , but younger haha. Certainly a natural squatter. He’s done a lot of calisthenics training, so not unfamiliar with squatting in of itself, but never done it with a barbell. As expected, pretty dopey with the bar initially. Took him through progressions not unlike the starting strength model, as I figured he looked built well for that kind of movement. And I was right…once 40kg went on the bar, it looked 95% good straight away. Worked to a comfortable 70kg x5x3, same as me for the day. He started feeling the weight of the bar on his back at that point, being unaccustomed. Said they felt quite hard at the end, but looked easy haha. “5lbs more next session”. Haha. He benched also, typical though, he was already pretty decent at that. 4x8 with 60. Deadlift he’d literally never done before in his life…took some learning, but after a chat on how it should feel, he was 3/4 the way there on rep One. I love a good learning lifter…ended with 90x3. Wanted to insert some ego into it. Form held solid, I was happy. Wasn’t anywhere near a max, despite what he reported feeling haha. Good day at it.
He says the squat racks are BUSY when he normally trains…I’ve implored him to park himself at the rack upon arrival, so he can squat first for the session before he does his regular stuff.
See how it goes. IMO he’s good enough naturally at this, to eventually become addicted to it, IF, he can commit enough to the movements to realise the novice gains quickly. That will create the addiction we all experienced haha.
In other news, today’s coughing was the least amount so far. Though I still have a lot of clear mucus (over sharing?), it’s pretty much feeling like that’s the only cause of any coughing that is happening. I can deal with that to be honest. T
Rest day, training tomorrow. And will push on with the day on/day off schedule from there.
Squats were good. Felt really nice. Easier than previous session again which is perfect. I’ll go 10kg again next session.
Press was good also, oddly felt a little heavy. Just not used to them properly still is my guess. When I say heavy, I don’t mean Heavy…just, can feel it more than I feel like I should feel 42.5kg. Could have repped it all day though. Happy to run this one up over time. Right shoulder is still dicky, doesn’t impede lifting at all, but it hurts doing everything else…Injection is booked for tomorrow morning, then I’ll rehab that for a few days like the other shoulder - which is still feeling brand new and normal. Im going to add some specific shoulder strengthening things end of this week now that they both with be ready. Try and solidify them.
Deadlift was completed with Hook Grip. I’m hoping to never use a mixed grip again…but I also want to compete again one day, so I’ll need hook grip for that, might as well start getting used to it while I’m running this back up also, see how long I can stomach it haha.
Added curls back in, havn’t don’t them with a straight bar since before my shoulder issue. Don’t hurt anymore which is nice.
Coughing less and less every day. I’d almost say I’m not coughing at all anymore from the whooping cough, but there is still a small amount of mucus happening. Should be a memory by the end of the week.
. Drove it through a shopping mall carpark…always amusing as it crackles and pops off throttles 
.