Probably could i guess, just do a few bodyweight or goblets instead during the general warmup.
Next time
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I carry less injuries/mileage than you, but all of my warm ups for any of the big 3 variants starts at 1 plate, I’d like to say it’s expedience, but it might be nearer indolence.
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Only movement for me that’s ever started at a plate is deadlift. Usually 70kg. I’ve always started with the empty bar on most other things haha. With squat, my knees have been SHITE since day one from previous sporting “endeavors”. Some days in the last, they’ve been unusable.
Dunno how I ever squatted 200kg high bar LOL.
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I still use an empty bar for my first set on everything. It feels kinda pointless and it is really a throwback to when I started back in the gym 9 years a go and literally only lifted an empty bar to start. But its just habit now.
4 Likes
Front squat:
20x3
65x5
65x5
Press:
20x5
42.5x5
42.5x5
RDL:
20x5
75x5
75x5
Notes:
- This was very quick this morning. Worked longer than I had planned…got carried away, so had to cram this is before we left for a family day trip.
- plan to do Chins and carries etc tonight.
- squats felt good on second set. First set was a little sus, wasn’t adequately warmed…need more when training early.
- press and RDL’s were perfect. No pain ANYWHERE today. Nothing. Good.
Fin.
4 Likes
Front squat:
20x3
60x1
65x5
70x5
Press:
20x5
42.5x5
42.5x5
RDL:
42.5x5
75x5
80x5
Chinups:
107.5x2
110x5
110x5
Loaded Carry of the day:
Suitcase Carry:
32kg KB x 56m each side. Ouch.
Roman Chair Glute Raises:
117.5x21 (bodyweight plus 10kg).
Notes:
- Excellent. All around. Feeling great now, but will remain patient.
- Front Squats moving along nicely, feels like I’m becoming a better front squatter from a technical perspective. It’s natural enough now that I can just wholly focus on the elbows up cue. Upper back mobility has improved a lot, and my wrists are just ready to go when I begin now, though I keep stretching them anyway.
- Been doing a dead hang from the chinup bar for 30+ seconds for the last three sessions. Something in that.
- Press felt ok, first set a little weird or slow. Second set powerful. I think I’ll add a single or double to the warmup at 40kg moving forward as I did with the squat today. Just enough.
- RDL silky.
- Carry was hard. Not max…but hard. Good. It’s a long time to hold that position it turns out
.
Rest day again tomorrow. I don’t want it. But it makes sense. Lots of walking. Probably in the rain.
Fin.
6 Likes
I start with sissy squats holding onto a post then 28 kgs. The thing about biomechanics,is that deficiency in movement will not only show up with very heavy load but also with very light. Only the bar to start helps you switch on. 60 kgs isn’t heavy but it’s heavy enough to injure you if you are cold
Front Squat:
20x4
60x1
67.5x5
67.5x5
Press:
20x5
40x2
45x5
45x5
RDL:
45x5
80x5
80x5
Chinup:
107.5x2
107.5x5
110x5
Loaded Carry of the day - Farmers Walk:
50kg each hand, 20m x 2.
Side Bends:
10kg x21 each side.
Notes:
- Very good again. Had some fatugue in my back somewhere, biggish day yesterday. But it didnt affect anything.
- Front squats were good. Groove getting greasy. Even the empty has started feeling ok. Cold mobility improving a good amount.
- Pressing is going well. I Did feel my right elbow on the first set of 45kg, for i think 4 of the reps. I did not feel anything on the second set. Second warmup set this time definately made the first 45 feel better, too. Despite the elbow. I can definately sit on this weight for a few sessions, see if it stops hurting like it did with 42.5.
- RDL’s, easy. Good stretch, very strict. Long grip hold on rep 5 on both sets.
- Chins were a bit weird. Felt shit on the warmup set of 2, then felt strong on first set of 5. So went back to 110kg for set 2, and was also ok. Still like them to be easier. It will come.
- Damn i love these carries. Honestly. I look forward to them every session…tossed some more side bends in on the end as i was unloading the farmers handles. 1 minute, and you have some extra core work.
- No real rests today. Lift the weight, change the plates, check video, lift again. And so on. The last press set, becomes the first warmup for RDL’s seemlessly - doesnt really matter what is on there.
- All i did for warmup today was 30 seconds dead hang, some wrist stretching (which felt good from the start), and my usual hip flexor marches to make everything wake up.
Fin.
3 Likes
Good to see u front squatting. Are u going to go to the point where you’ll bust out the wraps or u just going to bare knee them
time to load up and go for some PR’s
Not yet. Couple more weeks. Physio would have me. But everything is feeling pretty good.
1 Like
Front Squat:
20x5
60x1
67.5x1
75x1
75x1
85x1
85x1
90x1
Press:
20x5
40x2
45x1
50x1
55x1
60x1
62.5x1
62.5x1
RDL:
62.5x5
80x1
85x1
90x1
95x1
100x1
105x1
Chinups:
107x2
112x1
114.5x1
117x1
119.5x1
122x1
125x1 (124.5 is bullshit, so threw a 0.5 in my pocket on the way to the rack).
Loaded Carry of the day.
20kg plate held overhead at extension and walked until I could not hold it fully extended. Felt like an age…was 48 seconds.
Notes:
- Front Squats felt pretty alright. Front rack limitations still evident at higher loads. That’s ok, it’s mostly just uncomfortable.
- Press felt ok. No back or elbow issues. That’s the main thing. Solid otherwise.
- RDL’s still very easy. Good solid pause in the stretch for each single. Confident enough to send that 105 for over 10 reps now no trouble at all…will continue the load creep though, as per the plan.
- Nice to train without (too much) pain .
- Carries were randomly selected, and regrettable . Boy can I feel yesterday’s carries though, and probably side bends saying hello. Good.
Fin.
3 Likes
I like an overhead carry really lights up the delts and traps. I also like to do one handed with the other hand holding something by my side and then swap sides
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Thats a good idea also. I’ll give that a go too. But yes, Traps copped a flogging!
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Tonic day today, and I took my medicine.
Front Squat:
20x5
40x10
Press:
30x10
RDL:
60x10
Chins:
Yellow band assistance x 10
Carries:
Farmers Walk: each hand.
20x135m
20x135m
60 minutes walk thereafter.
Notes:
- Light day. Considered doing empty bar work, but I’m retarded with the empty with the front squats, 40 was nice enough to get some grooving in. Everything else was just greasing. It’s my least favorite day on the program…but a nessecary day I think, for this first fortnight it’s not really Needed, but for patterning, I did it.
Fin.
6 Likes
103.8 this morning. Trending down again nicely. Had a weird water load/bloat going on all last week, where my calories were consistent, but nothing was happening. Then three days ago…Whoosh. It dropped 1.2kg overnight, and hasnt returned, now just creeping down 100gm per morning since. I assume a digestion/biome change/adaptation. I switched back to IF, two meals per day, 1000 cals each with 12-20gm of fibre, and 100+ gm or protein in each. Thought i would have adapted quicker than i did, but we got there. Yesterday’s meals just went down the hatch as easily as someone eating a small sandwich LOL.
Forgot how much i preferred never feeling hungry too often. A little hunger rises around 1330 each day, but thats just the pattern of feeding creating that signal. as im eating “breakfast” at around 3pm after training each day.
With the big walk each morning with the doggo’s upon waking, the hunger leaves me straight away. Infact this morning it wasnt even there at all.
This change was just schedule driven. I actually very much dislike getting up and eating in the morning (aside from a social breakfast with friends or the wife). Just takes up a time that i could already be spending on walking. Then its straight to work for 6 uninterupted productive hours before training. I give myself two hours to train and eat, then finish off a bit of work, an into family time.
Much better.
Fin.
4 Likes
Day 9 EES.
Front Squat:
20x5
60x2
67.5x5
70x5
Press:
20x5
40x2
45x5
47.5x5
RDL:
47.5x5
80x5
85x5
Chinups:
108x2
108x5
113x5
Loaded Carry of the day - Farmers Walk:
40kg each hand, 142m, 2 stops. (half way, and then another quarter way).
Notes:
- Knees took a bit to get going today, seems the pattern after a rest day pretty consistently…honestly thinking i need to squat on the rest days also, maybe even just 60x5x2 or something, for what essentially be another tonic day. Might play with that in 2nd cycle. next week. Got them working ok in the end. Lots of noise in the knees in set one, but not in set two.
- Press felt solid though, quite good. Slight bump in weight.
- RDL’s felt totally normal. Felt way too easy (theyve always been easy, but today especially simple - will start shuffling up next week.
- Chins were good, very powerful on set two with the 113, felt easier than the first set.
- Heavy today as i trained After lunch, instead of before.
- Carries were good. I went hard out with the idea of potentially making it back home in one go LOL. The burn after 71m was quite warm, so 1 minute rest there, then 15-20 seconds half way back. I’d like to get that walk down in just two efforts next time i do it. I MIGHT implement the sandbag tomorrow. Maybe. Back is feeling normal, that’s a few days now in a row where i’ve felt Zero anything. Its almost 3 weeks since the old man burner, so that’s about right i think. Physio wanted 2-3 weeks, so we’ll just play it by ear.
Fin.
3 Likes
Day 10 EES.
Front Squat:
20x5
20x1
60x1
70x5
80x3
90x2 - 198.5lbs
Press:
20x5
40x2
47.5x5
52.5x3
57.5x2 - 127lbs
RDL:
60x5
85x5
95x3
105x2 - 231.5lbs
Chinups:
107x2
112x5
117x3
122x2 - 269lbs.
Side Bends:
30x10 - 66lbs
30x10
Notes:
- Sides bends were two sets each side. No rest…
- Front Squats felt better today. Always do after squatting previous day. 90x2 felt Technically horrible, but the video showed me what I think I needed to be seeing there… typical. It wasn’t heavy as a squat goes, which is also great, it’s just holding it haha.
- Press felt ok until the double, which felt a bit unstable on first rep for whatever reason. Raw Pressing power is there, but stability still lacking it seems. But progress.
- RDL were again Very easy, as were the chins. 122kg seems like a lot of weight for a chinup . But up over the bar my chin went…
- Most Importantly, today rounds out two weeks of the EES, and last four sessions with ZERO back issues what so ever. Even those heavy side bends reveled nothing. Great. I guess another week of extra conservatism will do me good, though the whole program is conservative by nature…
- Chins are the shining light currently. I guess the intensity is just about right for them. Being a heavy corpulent fellow, they are sorta heavy-ish by nature. Probably have 10-11 good reps in me with current training weight today at 107 in gear and hydrated. Was 103.7 this morning just for the Log. Continues to trend down. So the next couple of weeks I should see some gains elsewhere as I begin to move the loads up a bit more.
- This years outlook remains strong.
Fin.
3 Likes
Day 11 EES
Front Squat:
20x5
60x1
70x5
70x5 - 154lbs
Press:
20x5
40x5
47.5x5
50x5 - 110lbs
RDL:
50x5
85x5
95x5 - 209lbs
Chins:
108x3
110x5
110x5 - 242.5lbs
Sandbag Pick and Carry:
55kg x 10m x 4. About 30 seconds rest intervals.
Notes:
- The sandbag was interesting. Nice to have it back on the menu. It was something I hurt my back with a while ago now, but hadn’t come back to it. No issue today at all. Forget how hard it can be to breath holding it bearhug style. Good.
- Front Squats were ok. I need a couple more warmup reps with load moving forward. Perhaps a triple with that 60kg will be enough. Second set was great, and had it been my first set, id have gone heavier…but the first set feels like it’s still warming me up, so hard to gauge. But yeah, the rack position was on point second set and they felt great.
- Press felt felt today. Solid on all reps. Definitely getting more stable, and my discipline with the technique is also becoming a normal standard - (full glute and quad engagement every rep all the time, to keep my entire core locked into the movement, in the past, I cheated Alot, which compromised my lower back imo).
- Chins are chins. 110kg was a nice round number (literally 1kg plate in each Pocket).
- Everything going well.
Fin.
3 Likes
Day 12 EES
Front Squat:
20x5
60x2
70x5
75x5
Press:
20x5
40x5
50x5
50x5
RDL:
50x5
90x5
90x5
Chins:
108x2
108x5
108x5
Plank:
1 minute on, 30 seconds off, 1 minute on.
Notes:
- sore abs today. Didn’t affect the lifting though, so went with plank instead of something more unstable.
- Squats felt ok, second set felt A lot stronger than first. Becoming normal. First set did feel easy though, so through on 5kg and it felt like I’d taken 5 off instead. That 60kg warmup set might become a 5 in time.
- Press was similar, second set Alot better than first, but both felt good enough for sure. Feels like it’s starting to progress, or wake up.
- RDL was fine, another good stretch. Could feel yesterday’s sets in those in my hammies.
Good.
Fin.
2 Likes