Thanks Trev, I find logging it here helps for some reason?I guess some level of accountability even though I don?t INR know anyone here. I?m happy there is a another CT?er here. The nutmeg state is worefully underrepresented on here.
10 minutes on the elliptical?woefully feeble. I had severe bloating/gas pains, generally feeling awful all afternoon and dragged myself to the gym. I guess rice and beans and chicken or eggs for days on end catches up.
Squats
Warm-up
Numerous 10 x bar
2 x 5 x 135
2 x 5 x 185 hard time finding my groove
Sets
3 x 225
3 x 270 supposed to be 260, I miscalculated the load Bar +4 (45’s)+4 (10’s) + 2( 2.5ers)+X. Solve for X.
3 +2 x 295 all these were a grind. Not even Amon Amrath got my inner berserker going.
I couldn?t bear the thought of BBB sets
Leg presses
2 x 10 x 315 (3 wheels per side + the sled)
8 x 405
2 x 6 x 495 at this point I unleashed several cubic feet of shit preview. I complained to the front desk about a possible gas leak coming from the squat rack.
And some standing calf raises for the damn fuck of it
Funny powerlifter wanna-be habit I noticed in myself. I tighten my core to get out of the bed in the morning, and whenever I stand up. I noticed this after doing the leg press and that I was as tight as I want to be squatting. I could feel abs, lats, everything come into to drive the weight.
13ish minutes elliptical
I asked the Marine (see funny gym guy post above) if he was done with my preferred DL area. He asked if I wanted to share, then just left.
DL
5 X 225
1 x 275
1 x 275
1 x 275
1 x 305 full out eff?n grind. I understand the importance of diet now. I only had some rice and beans for dinner and no breakfast. Total soup sandwich.
Bent over rows
10-6 x 4 x 135 punishment for the worst DL set ever!
OHP
5 X 85
3 X 95
1+2 X 105 at least I did something here.
Elliptical 15 minutes?this damned heat!
Bench
5 x 185
3 x 205
1 + 3 x 225 I didn?t warm up quit right (ironic) and wasn?t in the groove, but I pushed this out.
3 x 10 x 185
overhead triceps extensions
10 x 100
7 x 120
6 x 140
This damned heat! My regular car needs some major front end work so I have been driving my 72 Cadillac DeVille. Although this car is a pleasure to drive, there no a/c. This especially sucked yesterday when I had to wear a suit and it was 90+ degrees and 90%+ humidity. Hurtling down the highway at 80 mph in the middle of 4500lbs of ?Merican steel, with 700lbs of nearly red hot iron directly in front of you is nice, but not when your head to toe in wool.
My commodities pick of the week, buy rum futures! Reports indicate there will be a run on current stock which is expected to be depleted quickly. I?d go long on limes too.
I ended up skipping the last 531 workout that should have been squats due to the holiday and it being eff?n hot as shit all the eff?n time. I don?t mind the heat, but my wife does. Which means I don?t get sleep.
I am considering not bumping up weight on anything to drive more towards cardio work, and to sticking to BBB assistance 5 x 10 x 50% to push out more reps with less rest, sort of cardio part 2.
De-load week–EFFFFFF U DE-LOAD! but I need it.
20 minutes, elliptical
Deadlift?all done conventional
5 x 135
5 x 160
5 x 190
Romanian DL
4 X 10 X 135
OHP
5 X 45
5 X 55
5 X 65
Facepulls
3 x form breakdown @ 100-140
Cable crunches
3 x form breakdown @ 100-140
[quote]TheKraken wrote:De-load week–EFFFFFF U DE-LOAD! but I need it.
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Are you taking deloads every 4th week or are you skipping them here and there ?
I took them every 4th week for the first few cycles, then moved to every other one, and eventually petered out when I decided to be Capt America and go for 3 cycles without a deload… we all push ourselves here and there eh? heh.
Anyhow, just curious your take.
I always came back stronger too… damn greedy bastard I am…
I have taking them or aligning them with business travel, as in I ain’t doing shit. On a normal deload I do all the prescribed work and hit assistance as I feel I need it.
Major car/life issues made getting the gym difficult for the last two weeks. Also, my hips have been throbbing so I figured it was worth heeding the signs life had sent ?chill the funk out!? so I went with it.
Because of two weeks off, I also decided to not increase any weights on this cycle…for now.
cycle 6, week 1
20 minutes on the elliptical
DL?I have always pulled sumo, but the combo this and a wide squat stance has wreaked havoc on my hips. One of the tnation articles said helped me realize I have tyrana-sore-ass arms so sumo may not be the beast for me. To try to rehab the hips, and use my levers I decided to swallow my pride and pull conventional
5 x 185
5 x 225
5 x 255?not too bad for previously never going over 200 conventional
Romanian DL
10 X 135 could feel my pulse in my spine, so I figured it was time to move on.
OHP
5 X 75
5 X 85
5 X 95
2 minutes on the crappy elliptical. There is two good ones and two with the moving handles. I god damn hate those.
What doesn?t happen on in cardio gets to happen in weights
Bench
5 x 155
5 x 185
5 x 205
4 x 10 x 155
Overhead tri cable extensions
4 x 10-8 x 110-140
Cable pull downs
5 x 10 x 120
Cable tri pushdowns
4 x 8 x 120-160
Cable curls
4 x 8 x 120
Most of the funny gym guy regulars have been absent. There is two guys that look like they’re returning vets who look a little too intense, (very understandable, and I am sure I get that look from time to time also) but they lift respectably. I guess a new crew of goof will show up in September, young bro’s getting their swole on, at el.
Was feeling awful, did a few minutes on the elliptical and on the weights
Squats
5 x 205
205 unracked, I felt like I was going to ditch it, shoulders super tight so I reracked.
Leg press
10 x 315
8 x 405
8 x 495
6 x 495?drop mike, done.
I made a snap executive decision this weekend to go low-carb. Anticipating the detoxing heroin feeling I did a light 10 minutes on the elliptical and to keep assistance work to a minimum.
DL?Conventional
5 x 185
3 x 225
3 x 265
OHP
3 x 75
3 x 85
3 x 100
some plank ab work
Funny gym guys?a group of youths were hanging around an older feller with a distinct Fred Flintsone look but with a goatee that made him look like he was chewing on a black kitten. He clearly was not a regular gym user. He wore a lifting belt that held his mighty gut (fuel tank for the love machine) in place, white jean shorts and a t-shirt under a flannel shirt many sizes too big for his shoulders but not for his gut. He was counting off reps with rhyming stanzas of inspiration for his young cohorts and paying creepily careful attention to their young supple form.
Holy no-carb misery! I basically crashed, hit rock bottom and felt like a soup sandwich as I was going to the gym
Skipped cardio due to a high level of personal vagiousity
Bench
All benches were in use, did not have the fight to wait it out so I went to the hammerstrength area
?but decided heavily assisted dips might do the trick
3 x 10ish?still no open benches !
Hammerstrength!
3 x 135
3 x 185
3 x 225?I don?t know how these compare to normal benching. I felt a strain ?getting out of the hole? because the ROM was deeper than would be natural
10 x 3 x 155
Tri extension with the rope
8 x 3 x 120-140
hobbled home by way of the grocery store, forgot everything I went there for, and made it home.
Weix, I didn?t come home with any BnJ but I forgot peanut butter (carb headache and hunger pain medicine) and Odin knows what else?I did grab more diet sprite for instant low-ish carb mojitos.
10 minutes on the elliptical?finally starting to feel human
However?Squats
3 x 10 x 135 this is usually a warm-up cycle, but my shoulder is still not feeling right. It makes me feel like I am going to drop the bar backwards the whole time. There’s no safety bars at the gym so this sucks. I used to think I was a squat specialist, now I have lost my mojo.
3 x 8 x 135 good mornings?WTF! I hate these, but I need to strengthen my core, and I though more time under the bar might help the above shoulder issue
Leg press?or time to move some real weight
10 x 315
10 x 405
8 x 495
6 x 585
6 x 675 Da?um Kraken, you crazy! Feeling a little CNS fry this morning but it felt really good to just push like hell and practice pushing through the heels. (I get toe happy squatting and DL?n sometimes)
but it felt really good to just push like hell and practice pushing through the heels. (I get toe happy squatting and DL?n sometimes)
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I have the same issue with squats, I end up with more pressure on the middle foot then heel. Though I am very conscious about it, and it’s continually the primary item I am thinking about during my drive out of the hole. With OHP and Deads I try to lift my toes, sounds crazy but for whatever freaking reason it keeps me from leaning forward on deads, and rolling into a slight push press on heavy standing OHPs.
I thought I had my squats down… lol… video taped myself and was like… WTF… knees past the toe line… UGH! course, maybe I am just being really anal retentive here. I hear all sorts of shit about knees needing to not go past the toes, but in a variety of squat documentation, the pictures show some clear breakage of that line…
Sometimes you just have to simply, do the exercise and stop freaking out about perfection with form.
I guess I?m going through a funny phase. I skipped Sunday?s DL/OHP workout, mainly due to needing to mow the lawn, a 3 hour commitment that is awlful to do after lifting, and partial because I was feeling fairly bad and my back and hips have been continuously sore. Also, I lift a lot to alleviate and manage stress, but I did some things to essentially eliminate a couple major sources, paid off some debt, and squared away some long lingering personal issues. Although all this is a big relief it seems to have made me I’m especially mellow. I have craved Sinatra/Rat Pack music all week, everything is cool, but I found myself questioning why it is important to me to hit a new PR–a really weird feeling.
Tuesday, AKA yesterday, I was still feeling drained, unmotivated, but physically OK. I took my own advice, ?DO SOMETHING FOR THOR?S SAKE!? and went to the gym.
No cardio?in hindsight a mistake because I have used it to get to ?operating temperature? which has improved my workouts.
Bench
5 x 5 x 185 this was a nice change, challenging, but not terrifying.
Cable Flys
4 x 8-10 x 55
Back extensions (on the machine)
10 x 175
10 x 220
8 x 260
6 x 295 (machine maxed) felt good to isolate the erecters, and engage the glutes/hams
Tri extensions
10 x 140
10 x 160
8 x 180
6 x 200
Still dealing with my squat issues, stiff back/hip, stiff shoulders, I thought it best to squat on the smith machine
Squats (on Smith)
2 X 5 X 185
5 X 225
5 X 275
3 X 315
3 X 335?feels funny to do these on the smith, but felt much better having weight on the shoulders.
DL
5 X 5 185 still working conventional DL. I figured 5x5 with a very manageable weight would make sense so I can focus on technique with getting hurt.
DL from pins
3 x 225 because I was shaking at the top last week with this weight
OHP
5 X 5 X 85 same 5x5 reasoning as before, and also the rationale that in the past a low carb diet has led to minor injuries, this seems to be a smart move.
I am thinking that it might make sense to do a ME day. One week focus on squats, next on DL’s, so a 5x5 on the non-focus, and maybe 5,3,1+ on the focus.
Post gym, there is a Pakistani buffet (was Afghan a year ago, but I can guess why they might change that) that has all the goodness of Indian, curry, spice and heat, but without all the vegetarian bs. This is good stuff, charred meat, cooked meat, diced chili brought to the table. I go in there and wreck dat shit!
Elliptical 9 minutes?baby steps
Bench
155 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 1+2
Seated cable flys
10 x 45, 65, 80
Tri push downs
10 x 120
8 x 150
6 x 180
4 x 200
Cable curls
10 x 110
8 x 140
5 x 160?breathing reps, but done
Sad gym guy, a white guy who has probably packed 25lbs of muscle on himself over the year always worked out with a smoke?n hot black girl all of the sudden is flying solo. I?m sad for him, but she also sounded dumb as a rock, and high maintenance.
Squat?I committed to either squatting or going home. Lots of warm-ups with the bar, then @ 135, etc. Shoulders still felt a little tight, but I did some mobility work between sets. This is the first time I have had a good squat session in a long time. I felt much better and a nice T-dump after.
2x 5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 175
5 x 195
5 x 205
3 x 5 x 225–there was a hot girl right next to me the whole time, I can’t believe I squatted over 200 without farting–gym win!
Abs
Cable crunches
10 x 120
10 x 150
10 x 160
10 x 180
(lost count) x 150 alternating side crunches essentially to failure
Funny gym guy–young hipster with a full Cossack style 'stash who doesn’t seem gay, other than the 'stash.
DL
2 X 10 X 135
2 X 5 X 155
5 X 175?I think I may be giving up on conventional DL. My lift is actually going down. On this set I was shaking all the way up like it was 300 lbs.+ I am too damned big to be struggling with this weight.
Seat back extensions
10 x 185
10 x 220
8 x 250
6 x 270
3 x 290
Seated Cable rows
10 x 120
10 x 140
7 x 160
5 x 180
OHP
5 X 70
5 X 80
5 X 90