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canadianlbs
Posts: 5,199 Member
lame pun is lame 
but i haz stuff.
took the day off work and moped through the morning wearing my toe-spreading things, and then got spurred by landlord presence to go out and do my moping at the rec centre instead. and guess what.
105 squats.
obviously it really works for me to have an entire morning or afternoon to get my lifting done in. when i try to do it fast i'm either too tight still and i injure myself, or i'm scared that i'll injure myself so i don't do it seriously. this one was another slow cautious approach, by 10lb jumps front and back - stopping at four at 85 for front squats and just doing static holds after that. still and all, this means i can 'hold' 95 pounds in a really solid front rack, and 105 too. so that makes me happy in its own right.
again, when i reached into the Serious zone of the final three sets, things felt smooth and strong so i just kept going up. i'm doing single sets of 5 at each weight, which is wendler-ish so that's my justification for it.
am seriously going to hear about it from my bad spots tomorrow, but whatever. i hear from those bad spots whether i do things like this or not, and i'm over it. just going to keep doing what i can think of to do to try and mitigate it, until or unless some kind of huge light of revelation breaks in on me.
footnote comment: yanno what makes a huge change to front squats? two things, for me. closer grip, and re-inforcing the 'elbows up' thing right before i sit back. even if they are already up this seems to keep me more over my feet, which is the way i want it.
but i haz stuff.took the day off work and moped through the morning wearing my toe-spreading things, and then got spurred by landlord presence to go out and do my moping at the rec centre instead. and guess what.
105 squats.
obviously it really works for me to have an entire morning or afternoon to get my lifting done in. when i try to do it fast i'm either too tight still and i injure myself, or i'm scared that i'll injure myself so i don't do it seriously. this one was another slow cautious approach, by 10lb jumps front and back - stopping at four at 85 for front squats and just doing static holds after that. still and all, this means i can 'hold' 95 pounds in a really solid front rack, and 105 too. so that makes me happy in its own right.
again, when i reached into the Serious zone of the final three sets, things felt smooth and strong so i just kept going up. i'm doing single sets of 5 at each weight, which is wendler-ish so that's my justification for it.
am seriously going to hear about it from my bad spots tomorrow, but whatever. i hear from those bad spots whether i do things like this or not, and i'm over it. just going to keep doing what i can think of to do to try and mitigate it, until or unless some kind of huge light of revelation breaks in on me.
footnote comment: yanno what makes a huge change to front squats? two things, for me. closer grip, and re-inforcing the 'elbows up' thing right before i sit back. even if they are already up this seems to keep me more over my feet, which is the way i want it.
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Hi everyone!
I am joining this thread to keep myself accountable as I aim to do three sessions of lifting every week and it's very motivating to see others' lift sessions log.3 -
Well, was supposed to lift Monday night after work. Longish shift but survived though had slight struggles cause not only did shark week start in the morning but had a headache off and on the whole shift. Didn't have anything to take and the headache followed me to the gym and had forgotten my belt yet again. Made it through part of the squats but did not go well with the pain increasing with the motions. Got one set at the top weight (169 as the 2.5 plates are missing again) done before giving up and just did 20 ish minutes walk on the treadmill.
Today (tuesday) had work with no headache today.
squat 1x8 @ 45, 1x5 @ 108, 1x4 @ 129, 2x3 @ 149 and with belt 5x3 @ 175
bench 1x8 @ 45, 1x5 @ 65, 1x5 @ 75, and 5x4 @ 86
db fly 5x10 @ 20
dip with hands on bench feet on floor 5x8 @ bw
front squat 2x5 @ 86, 2x4 @ 108 and with belt 3x3 @ 129
good morning (standing) 5x5 @ 117
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August Weightlifting
Goal: 12 times (3 times/week)
Done:1/12
2/8/17
SL A
Squat 5×5 27 kg (59.5 lbs)
Bench press 24.5 kg 5x5 (54 lbs)
Barbell rows 30 kg 5x5 (66 lbs)
Pull down 3×10 15 kg
Pull in Seated 3×10 15 kg
Dumbbell side raise 3×10 2.5 kg
Triceps extension 2×10 5 kg0 -
Oops, posted this in July - posting here.
WOW, just...wow! Today was a challenge. 53.5 squat (here until I get a rack because I'm getting extra deadlifts here getting it off the floor), 43.5 OHP that last one on the last set was near impossible, Deadlift was 83.5 - a little scary for me, but doable. I'm sweating like I went running for a half hour or something! Dang!2 -
Today was interesting. Second to last day of 5/3/1 before a deload, which I think will be welcome. I have been feeling like my squats are a bit loose at the bottom, and after watching several Alan Thrall videos, I think I may be getting a bit lower than I need to be. Hypermobile joints make it easy to get low, but also easy to lose tightness. I notice a tendency to good morning a bit at heavy weights (150-160 for sure). I'll be able to really focus on that next week with a deload.
I also took some video of deadlifts at almost my highest ever (160 today, highest ever is 165). I hit a rep PR, which was cool. Watching the video, I really need to figure out how to lower the bar properly. I'm keeping the bar attached to my legs all the way down, but must be bending my knees too much too soon, because the bar path swings way out forward on the way down. It's tracing the front of my legs, but not straight at all, if that makes sense. More Alan Thrall while I work this out.
So anyway, today was
Squats 6/6/6 @ 125
Deadlifts 5/3/1+ (7 total) @ 130/145/160
Kettlebell swings with 30 lb bell 15/15/15
One handed KB swings with 20 lb bell 24/24/24 (12 each arm per set)1 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »the bar path swings way out forward on the way down. It's tracing the front of my legs, but not straight at all, if that makes sense.
oh i know this so well both personally and from watching other women struggle with it (seems like a women thing? idk). like you're sliding the bar down your lap or something
the way i broke it for myself was: the moment i get it locked out, i switch my mind to thinking just the single word 'gravity'. i think i was sit-lowering the bar because of an ingrained fear of committing all that weight to my lower back, yanno? that plus the whole 'keep the bar on your legs' thing somehow became 'semi-squat and REST the bar on your legs' in my head.
so mentally it seemed to help when i stopped worrying so much about how to reverse the lockout and go back to hingeing, and tried to just let 'gravity' do it for me while my hips had to go back to get out of the way.
oh, and also the thing about unlocking my knees. i have a slightly-bad habit of overlocking them - locking, but not really in a muscle-based kind of way. so the knee unlock is like a wait-whut scramble moment for my cns and on some level idk what i'm doing so of course i over-do it and just hope for the best.
tl;dr: gl. it's a really irritating habit to try and undo once you catch yourself forming it. i really try to stop wanting to be In Control all the way and let the bar pull me back into the hinge.2 -
Yesterday
bench 1x8 @ 45, 1x5 @ 58, 1x4 @ 69, 2x3 @ 79, 2x3 @ 89, 3x2 @ 98
deadlift 1x3 @ 135, 1x3 @ 159, 2x3 @ 186, belt 2x3 @ 215, chalk 3x2 @ 225, 3x2 @ 215
bench 1x5 @ 58, 1x5 @ 69, 4x5 @ 79
db fly 5x10 @ 17.51 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »I notice a tendency to good morning a bit at heavy weights (150-160 for sure). I'll be able to really focus on that next week with a deload.
[...] I really need to figure out how to lower the bar properly. I'm keeping the bar attached to my legs all the way down, but must be bending my knees too much too soon, because the bar path swings way out forward on the way down. It's tracing the front of my legs, but not straight at all, if that makes sense.
1. Front squats are your friend! No seriously! It helps with staying upright, more core activation, upper back has to stay super tight, best back squat accessory there is IMO. If you can't do the "clean" grip (bar sitting in fingers) due to some wrist restrictions, you can do the bodybuilder style crossed grip (I find that's wobblier, so yay, mor core activation? But nay, the bar digs more into my clavicle and I can use less weight, lol), or there's a technique with lifting straps that'll bide you over until you can hold the bar, or for as long as you need to if working up to a clean grip is really not a priority.
Or, y'know, a goblet or DB rack variation will also help much in that regard without the additional wrist strain, but you'll be able to use less weight. (although in more creative ways. The first time I did 1 DB 1 arm squats for a few sets of 10 on each side, my abs were sore for days! lol)
2. What canadianlbs said might help, but if you have access to bumper plates/the gym you're at has decent mat floors and people aren't all "don't make noise while deadlifting!" you can just get used to the feel of actually dropping the bar while your hands stay on it. Don't do it at super heavy weight just for the sake of it - not what I'm saying here! I don't wanna be one of those bros! But unless you're trying to work the eccentric as well (usually not a necessity with the deadlift), what you're doing is just letting the bar drop down where it is but slowing it down just a smidge with your hands. That's why you see a lot of people "re-setting" after a rep on deads. the bar drops, the body follows in whatever way feels natural (usually kind of sitting back), and then you get ready for the next rep.
Or you do it like crossfit and just let the bar bounce back up... wait... no. don't do that! ;P
That was a lot of words. Not sure if any of it makes sense to you. lol. BUt hope it helps at least a bit!
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@canadianlbs and @krokador thanks so much! I watched a bunch of Alan Thrall vids last night and will take both of your advice in with me for deloaded DLs next week. I think in watching myself, I saw a tendency to bend my knees too much too soon, not much hinge action in the hips on the way down. Because 160 is pretty heavy for me, I think canadian had it right that I'm nervous to put too much weight into my lower back. But a bar swinging all over doesn't seem smart either, so I'll practice the hip hingeing with my lower weights next week.
@krokador, I normally don't do front squats at all because of a) not being able to bend my wrists back AT ALL and b) trying the crossed arm hold left me with bruises on my arms for weeks. I'll give it another try though, maybe I can play around with the front hold some more. I've always, always, always in life gotten corrections (dance, gymnastics, etc) that my core needs to be tighter, so it's a long time issue to deal with. In my video spree last night, I also found one of Alan talking about cutting some of the depth from his back squats, as he was going deeper than was necessary or helpful. I'll check with vids, but this may be true for me too. Hypermobile hips = tons of mobility, not always tons of stability.
RE: dropping the bar from deadlifts, we do have bumper plates and a DL platform, but it's not a powerlifting gym or crossfit box, so I think dropping the bar would be frowned upon. Some guy was doing that the other day and there were dirty looks aplenty. I also find it hard to deliberately/knowingly draw attention to myself by making a lot of noise, so dropping probably won't work. I'll try being a little less controlled on the descent and see if I can keep a straighter bar path.
Thanks again for the feedback! One day I'll ovary up and post a vid for more specific feedback
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@amyinthetardis1231 i know elliot hulse had a great strength camp thing of him teaching someone how to get the eccentric hinge down. i think it was in this one but i'm too end-of-day to watch it myself to make sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFnwEsqJABU
i like elliot. he's been kind of jumping the metaphysical shark for a couple of years, but his early stuff where he's teaching something to someone else, i really like. his enthusiasm for sharing not just facts but understanding is so infectious.0 -
Last day of Sheiko #29 (they are month long sections of programming). Survived though it was definitely interesting with all of the benching compared to my last few cycles where I sometimes skipped upper body days.
squat 1x8 @ 45, 1x5 @ 108, 1x4 @ 129, 2x3 @ 149 and belt 6x3 @ 175
bench 1x8 @ 45, 1x6 @ 58, 1x5 @ 69, 2x4 @ 79, 2x3 @ 89, 2x2 @ 98, 2x3 @ 89, 1x4 @ 79, 1x6 @ 69, 1x8 @ 58
db fly 5x10 @ 15
dip 5x8 @ bw
seated good morning 5x5 @ 60
abs 3x10 @ 80
Done. There isn't a 24 hour over in Minnesota so looks like I'm taking a week off. Might go for a run while on vacation but not sure if any lifting will happen. Need to figure out if I'm going to do a meet in the fall/winter so can plan the sheiko regimes to follow. Might do #30 next. We'll see.1 -
August Weightlifting
Goal: 12 times (3 times/week)
Done:2/12
5/8/17
SL B
Squat 5×5 27 kg (59.5 lbs)
OP 5×5 22 kg (48.5 lbs)
Dead lift 2×5 45 kg (99 lbs)
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I should have taken an extra rest day, and my squats showed it today.
Bench went well first - 95lbs - 3x3
Then squats. Was supposed to be 135 3x3. Should have been fine, but the first set was so hard...then the first rep of the second set was a grinder - and I seriously almost missed racking the bar on one side! That's the cue to walk away from the squat rack...
Then 115lb rows - 3x3
And hip thrusts - 250lbs - 3x3. I'm going to repeat this weight next heavy hip thrust day because I don't think I quite got full extension.
Cable pull throughs - 3x100 -
We're back to test week, folks!
Yesterday:
Broad jumps (max effort) x10... nothing to report about. It was pretty terrible actually. And I accidentally forgot about it at first and did it out of order.
Power snatch: felt strong at first and actually hit a double @85, but then 95 was a bti eh and I had to muscle up 100. But I figured it was just a misgroove, and I wanted 105 so bad, and I had time on the clock... and I failed it twice. Then failed ( a little less epicly) 102.5 too. Ah well, i'll just make sure to work up my percentages a bit from the last phase.
Back squat 115x5, 135x3, 150x3, 160x3, 170x3 (after getting 170x2 and bailing last time around). Well hey, I'll take it. It felt like a slow, grindy set, but my depth looks pretty okay on video and I'm not folding over too much, so yay! Although I was feeling some remnants of that SI joint issue from last year so I'll have to be careful on that one.
Metcon was 20-12-8 for time (total reps) of
-DB squat clean 2x25
-DB Renegade Rows
Took 6:43, 13s more than the last time, but I had 5lbs more on each DB, so if you do the math, it's an improvement!
Today
Strict OHP 3RM: 75x3, 82.5x3 (felt kind of heavy, but I did 85x4 less than a week ago! Oh wait, it was 80x4... oops? xD) then 90x3 because I felt like I could, and I did! Last rep was ugly. I ended up out of alignment, left side needed a little help, but I managed to push through the stuck. I might've leaned back a bit. But it counts, okay?! lol
Pulls-ups: 1 set max effort, 3x submax. I got 7 chin-ups with my knee in the bands, then 6/5/8 with my foot in. Basically 1 more rep on each than last test? I think?
Then 5 rounds of 120 single unders, 10 Db thruster and 250m row with 1 min rest in between. Took 19:10. Last time had taken me 17:35 I think? But I had been using 25s for the thrusters, and today I had 30s, and that extra 10lbs makes a huge difference. So I'm taking it as a win.
And I felt like doing a bit of bro-stuff so I did straight arm pulldowns, DB curls and triceps pushdowns to finish it off (oh, and a set of light cable crossover to hit that chest)..
I'm ready for rest day naw!1 -
So, today was first real trainer day at awesome power lifter gym. And we took my squats and dissected all sorts of form issues. Looottssss of squats.
I am probably remembering wrong but I THINK it was 3-4x10@45, 2-3x8@65, 2x6@85, 2x3@95. I figured I was going to fail at the 95, as I barely pulled off 5x5@95 the other day with far more rest, and far less volume before that weight. But by the time we got to them we had gotten enough form progress, I not only got the 95, but they were far deeper and upper body far more upright, than I had managed the other day.
We then did 4x8 @ 20lb goblet squats, 3 second pause at the bottom and truly *kitten* to grass... followed by 2x3?? Maybe? *kitten* to grass with the bar... ugh... and then we did a bunch of lunges and a bit of leg press... I think tomorrow will hurt... not only from the volume, but we corrected enough form I think muscles I didn't know I had will hurt.
He wants to do work on bench press Tuesday. My chesticles are already nervous.
In other news, although butterfinger blizzards are delicious, and technically contain peanut butter, and milk, and other awesome things like chocolate...I would not recommend them as preworkout fuel. Oh the things we do for our sisters.2 -
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Day 1 of deload week and I forgot my phone with my programming on it. Derp. Decided to fall back on basic 5x5 at lighter weights to get lower body work in today.
Back squats: 5x5 @ 95 with emphasis on depth check. I was oversquatting! I was shooting down well past parallel, and my squats--even at lower weight--felt stronger and more stable when I stayed just at parallel.
Deadlifts: 5x5 @ 95. I have to get used to making noise, ugh. I was embarrassed at clanking every time but the bar path was much straighter on the descent when I focused on hip hinge and not molesting the front of my legs with the bar all the way down.
Front squats: 5x5 with empty bar. These do make my collarbones hurt (hazards of weight loss, oh darn) so I tried a couple sets with the pad on the bar. It was a bit slippy but did help with the bar digging in so I'll try bringing a towel next time.
Good mornings: 10/10/10. It was one of those padded fixed weight bars, I don't actually know how much it weighed. Was just working on hip extension, didn't care that much about weight.
I got distracted talking to a fellow dancer I've seen in there about some potential awesome collaborative work, which makes me squeeeee inside. I embarrassed myself further when a gentleman came up and asked if I was still using the rack, since I'd been standing there resting (talking to this other dancer) for longer than my usual rest period. He was very nice about it when I scrambled to finish, and found me a few min later to apologize if he came across as macho or trying to kick me off the rack. I didn't get that vibe at all, but it was really nice of him to make sure I didn't feel mistreated. Have I mentioned that I love my gym?0 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »not molesting the front of my legs with the bar all the way down.
rec centre was packed as most of them close on long weekends. bleh. lots of randoms, some of them people i'm pretty glad don't come here regularly.
i'm turning into that weird little creeper guy who CLEARLY did not have a plan and used to just wander around doing jack-all for three or four hours every day. only grace on my side is i'm not looking for people to try and hit on; i'm just trying to think of some move i can do without aggravating my hip, and that i feel enough like doing to actually do them. i did some external rotation stuff, cable pulldowns again, upping the weight to 32.5. and some extremely half-assed rows, and a fair bit of experimental bar-free squatting using kettlebells and dumbbells. and 2x10 overhead press with the women's bar, some dumbbell presses and a few circuits of uneven suitcase carries.
there was no chance of getting a rack, and just as well i didn't try since all it takes with this hip thing is one rep done the wrong way, regardless of weight. feeling bleh and in one of those keeping-on-keeping-on-but-no-plan kind of states.0 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »Deadlifts: 5x5 @ 95. I have to get used to making noise, ugh. I was embarrassed at clanking every time but the bar path was much straighter on the descent when I focused on hip hinge and not molesting the front of my legs with the bar all the way down.
Front squats: 5x5 with empty bar. These do make my collarbones hurt (hazards of weight loss, oh darn) so I tried a couple sets with the pad on the bar. It was a bit slippy but did help with the bar digging in so I'll try bringing a towel next time.
Woo! You'll get the hang of the clang on the deadlift with a bit of practice, but it's good that you can let the weight guide you down a bit as opposed to, like you said, molesting your legs to control it all the way. There's a middle ground in there, and you'll get to it
For the front squats, you said you like watching Allan Thrall right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzVCqLyGVd0
But yeah, also, make sure you rest the bar on your delts and not the collar bone. It's an uncomfortable feeling when you're not used to it because it feels like the bar is about to choke you, but my bony front chest doesn't get bruised even from heavy squats anymore. The clean is another story altogether, but shh >_>0 -
Well... RIP box jumps. I'm not going near you again. It's just not worth it. So much pain, so little return...
Tested floor pike presses (1 set to failure, 3 submax) with box jumps for height... was going well until the very last set... got 13/7/6/7, and 20', 22', 23' x4 + a single jump at 24' before I missed (I think I slipped off the edge? or my foot hit the very top of the box on the way up?) and banged my shin up, again. At this point I just don't even wanna try to get over it...
I'd been warming up for front squats, so once the worst of the pain subsided I gave it a shot. Was supposed to work up to a 3tm in 12 mins. Did 115x3, 130x3, 147.5x3 (2.5lbs more than last cycle) and called it. didn't even take 8 mins xD Thankfully, my ankle is fine. The bruise just makes me wanna cry when the leg impacts..
Could't do my conditionning circuit, s I worked up to a heavy triple on bench press instead. Got 125. Then dropped to 100lbs for an amrap set of 10. Not too shabby considering the last time I benched was about 2 months ago.
Now I'm trying to ice the shin. It hurts so bad...
I mean it this time, I'm quitting box jumps for good (or until I lose some weight AND find padded plyo boxes. Not one or the other. BOTH.) 1
