DECimate your workout
Fittreelol
Posts: 2,535 Member
What do you know. I'm in here on the first!
Happy posting ladies!
Happy posting ladies!
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Replies
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Oops, I posted mine in the November thread.
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HAH. nice one. thanks tree.
squats in mr t space. not much time (none) to do anything else, but still worthwhile because i notified him of my concerns and he gave me some special attention for almsot all of my sets. i'm cleared on almost all charges of buttwink, and without me even pre-priming him he caught the thing i've been feeling about getting way too quaddy with them. he says i'm breaking too far at the knees and not getting enough hip into it, so i got started on the process of working on that.
mostly i'm relieved to have an outside report on the buttwink, because i've gotten so far away from first principles i couldn't remember anymore what specific sensations mean about form. the last thing i want is to be so focused on the hip thing that i set myself up for the next problem along and this one is a lumbar disc thing.
seven triples this time, so one more squat workout to go before i get to add weight. i'm starting to think about whehter to make it five pounds or ten, but my sensible self says i should keep it to five at least until mr sports medico gets to express his opinions when i go to see him next week.1 -
Nice and easy workout for today.
squat 1x3 @ 118, 2x3 @ 129, 2x2 @ 155, belt 3x2 @ 165
bench 1x3 @ 65, 1x3 @ 75, 2x3 @ 88, 4x2 @ 95
cable abs 3x10 @ 90 - used the rope attachment
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I'm frustrated. Physio appointment ended up actually helping with my neck to the point where it was only uncomfortable and not painful anymore this morning. That is, until I started doing depth broad jumps. He was right. My neck muscles are too weak and whenever I have to stabilize a lot, especially with explosive movements, then whatever's been hurt has to fire again and goes into spasm. So I'll have to do my strengthening exercise(s), and stretches, like an adult. And stay away from anything high impact for the time being
The thing is, with it hurting when I try to strengthen it, it makes it very uncomfortable to try and train it, and I'm sure my babying it for a month and a half has also contributed to the weakness.
Anyways, I still got through the workout to a degree. So at least I can strengthen my big compounds, still.
Barbell back squat - played around with a slightly lower position on my back. By all accounts this is still a high bar squat, but it puts less stress on my neck this way, so I'm all for that.
45x8, 65x5, 85x5, 105x3, 107.5x5, 125x5, 140x9, 107.5x12
Lazy plate loading on the warmups means I pretty much warmed up at my first work weight, lol. I like doing first sets last. It's a not so time consuming way of polishing off some form issues and adding some volumes.
I was doing depth broad jumps x4 between 5 sets of those. Last set I bailed on the 4th rep in fear of hurting myself further, which told me I really shouldn't have been doing them in the first place. So I'll have to find yet another alternative to fire up the CNS between squat sets. *sighs* Maybe I'll give straight leg box jumps a shot. they're a lot lower impact.
Incline DB Bench & Rows as a superset. 20x15, 25x12, 30x11, 30x12
with walking lunges x10/leg, then jumping lunges x8/7/9 between sets
Face pulls 30x12, 45x10, 45x10 and bottoms-up KB 1 arm shoulder press x7/8/6 with... 10lbs. This is a weight I wave around like it's nothing for the most part, but with the pre-exhaustion of the face pulls and the stabilizing factor, those were challenging!
Oh, and as an afterthought I did a machine knee raises 30x15, 45x12, 45x10
I need to do some cardio, but I was so hungry today, I'll just do it tomorrow. Eh.0 -
So... I actually got to come home this weekend, which is good, because workout as written would have been very difficult in the zoo of the travel gym. Also, as I told trainer, I was really glad he was around for me to call an A-hole for some of the things on the sheet. (And that was BEFORE I turned into the belligerent uncooperative soul I was... we will get to that momentarily.)
4x10 @ 45 goodmornings
4x12@ 45 delt rows (went WAY better than the 70 from the other day)
Deadlifts 10@95, 5@135, 5x8@155
Shrugs - written as 3x8@195- ended up as 4x6ish, because I was sure I couldn't do these while traveling at this weight without the usual assistive technology (wrist wraps and/or chalk) so to try and prove to me it was possible, guess what I didn't get. Reps 1-4 would go ok, reps 5-6 not so much, and 7would have been dropping 195lbs...
Then we got to trainer's version of pendlay rows... and this is where I turned belligerent. I knew how 115 went... and this was written as 3x6-12 @125.... and so I was just staring at the bar (I was cooperative enough to at least load the bar as written) ... and we did 1 rep, and it wasn't how he wanted, and I didn't think it moved... so explanation, try again... same thing.... and that's when I got into my whole "I don't see thee point, I don't know what we are trying to accomplish, my arms aren't moving, this is clearly too heavy" and other in general wtf'age.... and I was loud and frustrated... like bad...like made a scene... and it's usually my goal in life to NOT make a scene... we did finally got the bar moving the way he wanted it to.... and I was still frustrated because From what I could tell the bar was moving up more from a deadlift movement and less from a rowing motion...and we ended up doing 4 sets of 6....
and I was told if my lats weren't sore today, He would never make me do the dumb thing again....
and well I have some strange sore spots... like apparently I held onto the bar well enough for the shrugs to work... but lats are not among the strange sore spots.... and the not currently frustrated version of me thinks taking him up on his deal continues my belligerent nature, and the right thing to do is to listen to the man who clearly has helped me make a ton of progress... but god only knows what kind of scene I would make when the day comes that 135 is on the sheet for those... so I need to decide which version begets that whole "discression is the better part of valor" thing
I then proceeded to calmly and obediently do barbell bicep curls - sets of 15, 12, 10
And ab roller 4x12 (another moment where I was glad to not be in travel gym, would have needed a plan B.
Tldr- deadlifts, don't be like sarah.... lift, don't argue, lift more...1 -
Then we got to trainer's version of pendlay rows...
i always have found rows baffling. and i'm one of the people who supposedly have just the right anthropometry to get them 'right' without feeling unbelievably awkward and weird.
i still find them baffling. i mean, of all the lifts they're the one where the bar moves but i am just damned if i can ever figure out why. some kind of muscle must be working but i do not know what it is. i don't think rows ever have 'hurt' my lats - not like pullup negatives. and yet the bar moves and supposedly i'm supposed to be doing them right, so they should?
idk. rows are just weird, man.other in general wtf'age....
i get that way with 75% of all physios. just the same anger i get when someone will not answer a simple question with a direct, simple answer.
and about 35% of mr t. i shake it off when the other person really has been being wilfully obtuse or doctrinaire - that whole 'don't argue, just do it/ I CAN'T DO IT IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT' spiral thing. but i feel uncomfortable about my tspace tantrums, because mr t. is the world's best backer-offer when it is necessary. and so every time i pitch a tantrum i feel like i've just i-my-own-self shrunk the circle that we can work in.but lats are not among the strange sore spots....
sometimes some of my muscles take more than 24 hours to give me the doms. just sayin'. i don't blame you at all for finding the whole thing hard if you can't get your bearings though.
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Yeah, rows in general, aren't great...but this was a different level... but yeah I felt rather childish about my tantrum. He was taking it all in stride with things like "if you aren't questioning me, I'm not doing my job" and "if I can't explain to you why we are doing something, I'm not doing my job" - we eventually spiraled to him loosely quoting einstein with "if I can't explain it to a 3rd grader, I don't know it well enough" when others were commenting on how our tantrum was progressing.... and let's just say this 3rd grader wasn't getting it.
Part of the explanation I got, was this is one of the few movements where he can overload the weight past the point of precise form, and that is his goal, to move the weight, not the precision I expect (which is unusual for him, and very much not my style)... and he assures me that if any part of the movement wasn't braced well enough to be safe, or if something was moving in a way to lead to injury he wouldnt be asking for the movement. (And trust me I beat On those possibilities as I argued)
Usually any flack he gets from me is because I don't believe something will work.... or my brain can't figure out how to get muscles to move the way he wants ...like coordination issues. So, I think my all out defiant attitude caught him off guard, as well.
However, as I am writing this... I am realizing that in all of my previous attempts at trainer experiences (usually very short lived, as I state my goals of barbells and heavy lifting and they nod and agree and sound on board, and then we never touch anything that weighs as much as the bar bell, let alone barbell itself and I wander off...)
but anyways, I'm realizing that I have never before had a trainer that challenged me enough to lead to me questioning them, let alone arguing with them, let alone a tantrum. So, I am beginning to see it as a challenge of my comfort zone. He darn sure "moved my cheese" and I wasn't ready for that.1 -
and I was told if my lats weren't sore today, He would never make me do the dumb thing again....
and well I have some strange sore spots... like apparently I held onto the bar well enough for the shrugs to work... but lats are not among the strange sore spots.... and the not currently frustrated version of me thinks taking him up on his deal continues my belligerent nature, and the right thing to do is to listen to the man who clearly has helped me make a ton of progress... but god only knows what kind of scene I would make when the day comes that 135 is on the sheet for those... so I need to decide which version begets that whole "discression is the better part of valor" thing
Honestly, I'm one of those people for whom the rows DO click, and I rarely get lat DOMS from them. I get them from front squats and deadlifts and cleans, though xD The thing with the lats is, they are just SO big, it's hard to really "feel" any particular part of them working because they work as a big unit, along with other friendly muscles that stabilize everything. Pendlay even more so because you actually have to work against that counter balance and make sure your legs and abs are properly braced else you end up doing a weird hump upwards that does nothing but hurt your lower back and, er, neck. So my new rule of thumb with them is: if I use ANY momentum whatsoever, my set is done. I keep progressing, to a degree, so something, somewhere, has to get work in, lol.
But I do also manage to feel the unit as a whole doing the work (combination of activating them, pulling shoulder blades back and then focusing the pull towards my mid-back, then holding the top contraction and resisting the eccentric a tad? Dunno if that helps?). I'm a bit curious what all your trainer has you do here. 115 is about the weight for a triple for me on a strict p-row.1 -
The thing with the lats is, they are just SO big, it's hard to really "feel" any particular part of them working because they work as a big unit, along with other friendly muscles that stabilize everything.
Pendlay even more so because you actually have to work against that counter balance and make sure your legs and abs are properly braced else you end up doing a weird hump upwards that does nothing but hurt your lower back and, er, neck. So my new rule of thumb with them is: if I use ANY momentum whatsoever, my set is done. I keep progressing, to a degree, so something, somewhere, has to get work in, lol.
But I do also manage to feel the unit as a whole doing the work (combination of activating them, pulling shoulder blades back and then focusing the pull towards my mid-back, then holding the top contraction and resisting the eccentric a tad? Dunno if that helps?). I'm a bit curious what all your trainer has you do here. 115 is about the weight for a triple for me on a strict p-row.
I have a tendency to not consciously use lats... and we have done things that make me realize I have them... but this does not seem to be one of them, but it may have been the goal was for me to find them again. I will say between the shoulderblades is on my list of sore spots though.
The sheet called these pendlay, but they are not the strict, controlled movement I am familiar with a pendlay row being. In fact it was getting me to USE the momentum that he seemed to be after. Which is still a very foreign idea to me.
Past that, if I could explain what I was doing with them, it probably would have been a much lower drama night. It was a row, which started and ended on the floor for each rep, where the apparent goal was to get me to get, and then use momentum to my advantage, in order to lift a weight that is above the weight I use for most anything, I felt it was only coming off the floor as a deadlift type motion, I was being assured it was making a row motion, despite my convictions to the contrary. And once again, with the between the shoulders soreness, I was probably wrong.
Knowing my row generally tracked with my bench when I was lifting alone ... I would guess that 105, maybe 110 would be my strict pendlay limit for that rep range.
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Past that, if I could explain what I was doing with them, it probably would have been a much lower drama night. It was a row, which started and ended on the floor for each rep, where the apparent goal was to get me to get, and then use momentum to my advantage, in order to lift a weight that is above the weight I use for most anything, I felt it was only coming off the floor as a deadlift type motion, I was being assured it was making a row motion, despite my convictions to the contrary. And once again, with the between the shoulders soreness, I was probably wrong.
Knowing my row generally tracked with my bench when I was lifting alone ... I would guess that 105, maybe 110 would be my strict pendlay limit for that rep range.
It sounds like he may have been making you do something more along the lines of a clean pull than a row? (although the start position is quite different and the pull is a lot more vertical). I'd really ask him what he's trying to have you accomplish with them, because I thing I'm younger than you, and yanking on the bar has already done quite a number on my poor body. It may be something you should watch out for as a general rule. I'm sure if you express concern for your well being he'll probably share a bit of the wisdom, or find you a less awkward replacement. Sometimes the risk/reward ratio's just not worth it, and he should allow you to make an informed decision about it.
In other news, you may wanna break out the doomsday calendar, cuz I went for a run/jog this morning. 35ish minutes. Some walking in there too as recovery. My neighborhood is a hilly labyrinthe, so pace is never constant, haha. Plus I hadn't run in so long and I was very sore to begin with. Still feels nice to get out and move.1 -
Yeah- the whole "I don't get what we are doing, why we are doing it, or what it is accomplishing" is where the temper tantrum started.... and risk of injury concerns were somewhere in there.... I actually got told to not feel bad about my tantrum... and he would rather see that from a client, than to find out they had all those issues and concerns and had just been keeping their mouth shut and grumbling....he also said a deal is a deal, and since lats were not among my sore spots....those are, in theory, no longer in the programming.
Congrats on the run... I can't remember when the last time was I did a good run either
and along those lines ... the Physical therapy on the ankle does not seem to be solving any problems other than "oh look, since you aren't running, it's not swollen, clearly we are genius." .... the fact it still pops when I walk...or the fact that single leg/impact exercises are still terrible doesn't seem to be an issue to them... so, I'm kinda thinking that's an expense I should no longer continue since there seems to be no benefit.... so I've been contemplating just putting blinders back on and running again.
Today was supposed to be squats.... and I say supposed to be because apparently I'm still a hot mess.... I think we got up to 1 or 2 sets at 105 before we deloaded and tore back into form.... lots of pause at the bottom stuff... at everything from 95 down to 65 which will probably hurt tomorrow...
There was also some leg press and goodmornings and I don't remember what else in there.
I know we deconstructed stuff long enough that I got out of core stuff *small blessings*
There was also some talk about possibly changing some programming direction between my frustration the other day, and the issues that led to the deconstruction of squats. He also suggested I look into something like romwod to do at home, as apparently my inflexible nature (he didn't specify whether he meant physical or personality here... oops) is becoming increasingly obvious.
And then I had to drive for 4 hours.... which so far isn't turning out as bad as I thought it would ... did an easy pace hour on the bicycle at the hotel gym while I did some online Christmas shopping to get things moving again.0 -
the apparent goal was to get me to get, and then use momentum to my advantage, in order to lift a weight that is above the weight I use for most anything
interesting. i'm just parroting rippetoe here, and have no expertise of my own. but i think he said rows can be started with a small movement of the lower back [don't blame him if i'm wrong in remembering this] to get them to break off the floor . . . and then yeah. the rest/meat of the rep is meant to be about finishing that. and it sounds like the additional weight did get into your rhomboids like prior rows don't. but on the other hand, your trainer said it was meant to all be about lats, not rhomboids.
i have been told that rows should/can be done for 'explosiveness'. as opposed to a deadlift, where you're not trying to pull it as fast as you can. my own issue is sort of the opposite of yours - lately i've been scolding and nagging myself about how my deadlifts have felt more like rows.
in other words, i don't feel like i'm using my lats much either
i sure didn't today. did nothing at all with any part of myself, unless you count chopping onions and kneading bread dough.
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Yeah- the whole "I don't get what we are doing, why we are doing it, or what it is accomplishing" is where the temper tantrum started.... and risk of injury concerns were somewhere in there.... I actually got told to not feel bad about my tantrum... and he would rather see that from a client, than to find out they had all those issues and concerns and had just been keeping their mouth shut and grumbling....he also said a deal is a deal, and since lats were not among my sore spots....those are, in theory, no longer in the programming.
Something I did also mean to say about this but somehow forgot: if you threw a tantrum over it, it was very likely not because you were being difficult. It sounds like you're a composed person in general. That's your brain's way of telling you something's not right. There are times where you can push through stuff that makes you uncomfortable, but if you're about losing your mind over it, then it is all for the best that your trainer is not pushing you to do them anymore.
And something else I forgot to mention: I tend to get pretty sore lats when I do the little pre-activation thing every rep. (Where you've got your arms hanging out and you start the rep by first pulling shoulder blades back into a tight position, and THEN rowing). It's easier to get the hand of on lat pulldowns. Sets will take a bit longer and you'll def not be able to use quite as much weight, but the burn! Haha.
And speaking of rhomboids... I've been having such tenderness there since Saturday, it's making me wonder what the hell I've done to them xD (answer is: high rep back squats (isometric hold) + incline DB rows (volume)). But yeeeikes! I may skip over the front squats I had planned today. In part because I'm a wuss. Other part because I ran yesterday and now my quads are sore (on top of the upper back) and it's still kind of just my first week back and I really don't wanna get hurt.1 -
Nothing quite like starting the week off with deadlifts and OHP =D
Deads 45x10 (RDL), 95x6, 115x5, 135x3, 140x5, 165x5, 185x11, 140x15
(I was supposed to do 162.5 and 182.5, but felt really plate lazy today)... So it seem I underestimated my DL max, eh?
OHP 35x6, 45x5, 55x3, 55x5 (yes, I was THAT lazy with my warmups), 65x5, 72.5x10, 55x13 (or 15... I struggled so much through that last rep I forgot where I was. Oops?)
1 DB offset front squats 25x6/side (so 12 total), 30x6, 30x8
superset with DB plank drag + renegade row 20x5/side, 20x4, 25x5
And I was supposed to do machine assisted pull-ups & dips, but there were 2 old guys futzing around on the 2 machines the gym has, and I couldn't wait for them to be done, so I improvised a little.
band assisted ring dips x6/4/5/6
leg assisted ring pull-ups with slow negative x4/5/4/4
Tomorrow is complex & interval & cardio day (and arms if I have time) and I'm kind of looking forward to it! My motivation is back, baby!0 -
Home with a sick kid today so I'll be trying to get some bodyweight and dumbbell stuff done at home today.0
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Decent workout this afternoon even after an awful night sleep and a 4am wake up call for work...
Squats 52.5kg 5,5,5,5,4
Bench 32.5kg 5x5
OHP 25kg 3,4,3 (going to reload onto fractional plates as I can hit 22.5kg for 5x5 no problems)
Rows 37.5kg 5x5
Pull ups (green band) 12x31 -
Change in programming started today.... added back in more accessories, more reps, shorter rest, and once I get the hang of it (in other words probably after I'm done traveling)some tempo work
I'm probably going to need to include the destructions or it's going to look like I have worse ADD than I actually have
Bench press- 75 second rest between sets -first working set @85, 8-15 reps per working set amwap (Amwap didn't get very far)
10@45, 10@65, 15@85, 10@90, 8@90, 10@85
Incline dumbbell bench 60 sec rest between sets 8-15 reps per set, amwap
15 @ 15s, 13, 12, 10 @ 20s
Skull crushers, 815 reps, 60sec rest, amwap
12, 10, 13@ 40
Cable flys 12-20 reps, 50 sec rest, amwap
20@30s, 15, 14, 15 @40s
Rope tricep extensions- 20 reps, 60 sec rest, amwap
20@50, 20@60, 2x20@70
Straight leg reverse crunches 4x20 50 sec rest
These got interesting, because once again, people everywhere... so where I ended up finding space to do them without risking kicking someone in the head, had nothing real solid to anchor to, which added a new level of difficulty
ETA - I will say this method, tonight anyways, results in one heck of a pump.... 3 hours later in the shower I was going "dang, it almost feels like I have muscle where that flab usually is"0 -
Another easy one. Have one more session before the meet. Competition is on Saturday with weigh-in on Friday morning.
bench 1x3 @ 65, 2x3 @ 75, 2x2 @ 88, 4x1 @ 95 - pausing and imagining cues
deadlift 1x3 @ 135, 2x2 @ 159, 4x2 @ 186 - had a long wait beforehand
cable abs 2x8 @ 900 -
My goodness I walk like a penguin now O_o
Inspired by TheHobbit2017 I decided to work with The Bear this morning as part of my complex/conditionning day.
Warmed up with a triple @45 and then @65, then did 3x5 with 75lbs (almost every 3 minute), and finished with a 3 min AMRAP @65 (got 11 full cycles)
Didn't feel too bad, and managed to get almost all the reps as squat clean thrusters straight into the hole and back up overhead without much of a pause.
So I moved on to Part B, the DB complex of hell. 8 reps of each (2x20lbs DBs):
- ground to overhead
- sumo deadlift (touch the ground)
- front rack lunges (per leg)
- renegade rows (per arm)
First time through took 3:35. The lunges were killing me. My hamstrings and glutes were hurting, and not the good kind of pain you're supposed to fight through, really. I still did for that round, shook it off and waiting my 90s, gave it another shot. 1 lunge per side in and I dropped teh DBs. Nope.
I haven't had a day off since last Friday and my body has decided this is where it stops cooperating.
So I regrouped, picked up a barbell and proceeded to do curls and floor presses with a close grip. 35x15/15, 45x8/12, 45x10 + 65x12, 65x2/2 cheat, 10 in bridge (decline), 10 flat.
DB hammer curls @20x10 (+3 more reps alternating).
All along stretching my lower body to try and alleviate the soreness a smidge.
And I tried to Z press at the end. Managed 8 reps at 45lbs. I was expecting something a bit more... challenging? It didn't even get into my hamstrings the way I kinda hoped it would. But it finished my shoulders pretty well, haha.
So yeah. Tomorrow is a rest day. Just sayin'.1 -
DawnEmbers wrote: »Another easy one. Have one more session before the meet. Competition is on Saturday with weigh-in on Friday morning.
bench 1x3 @ 65, 2x3 @ 75, 2x2 @ 88, 4x1 @ 95 - pausing and imagining cues
deadlift 1x3 @ 135, 2x2 @ 159, 4x2 @ 186 - had a long wait beforehand
cable abs 2x8 @ 90
Good luck on Saturday. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
I'm home with a sick kid again today and it's killing me that I haven't been able to get to the gym the last two days.0 -
well, that was . . . unimpressive enough to make me damn glad i'm not the person who paid for it.
sports doc diagnosed a 'tendinopathy' in both the glute med and the 'hamstring' (-.- which one, genius?) after only the most basic of the same strength and mobility checks i've been through nine or ten times before in the hands of much lesser people. passive internal rotation, passive external rotation, resist while abducted, resist pressure against the hamstrings, one-legged bridges, and diagnose. not even a trendlenthing test. aaand all the stuff about if it don't hurts then you must not do it. he said he's 'fine with you doing' SEATED upper-body work for two months, but supposedly i must not do any of the anything that makes it flare up. and he gave me two sheets of oh gee, guess what . . . clamshells and other hamstring/glute medius drills. do all of this and nothing but this for two months and go back.
like hell. i don't think i've gotten to full attitude yet, but i've gotten to enough of it to go straight from there to the gym, where i did his drills, sure. but then i got up and did rows. and then i did deadlifts. so there.
my attitude will wear off and for all i know it's going to be something as simple as this after all. wouldn't be the first time i pitched a piss-fit about how i should get some kind of special-case special treatment, and then it turned out it was as simple as that. but he did give me two rather interesting things that i've never heard of before. instead of bridges, i get to just hook my heels over a raised surface of some kind and lift up that way. and he gave me a baby-steps version of the glute-ham raise, which he called a 'nordic fall'. so i'm kind of looking forward to both of those.0 -
I’m sorry your sports doc experience went no better than my junk with my ankle is going. There is just something that baffles me about the whole disconnect with “clearly something wrong here” to “i don’t see anything wrong”which usually is accompanied by not particularly looking for something wrong. ... but even if there’s not something showing up on imagery wrong- if there is a noticible dysfunction what is so hard about them at least pretending to do something constructive to fix it??? Like if the dang people at least pretended to be trying to fix something you and I would probably both have less discontentment which would make us less likely to do something dumb.
Today was a deadlift day. Apologize in advance because apple decided to update my iPad, and I am NOT a fan and so my typing is not going so well. So between that and laziness detail may just not exist.
Pull-ups- 5 sets,8-15 reps 60sec rest, using bands as needed to get reps.
I mostly learned here that setups you are used to are important.... struggled to get a set up that worked, once I did, it was different enough had to go back to foot in band instead of knee. Also I learned it apparently matters to me WHICH foot is in the band.
Lat pull downs
Dumbbell row
Deadlifts 8reps, 75 sec rest, 4 sets, start at 135, and then amwap
135, 3x155 I really wanted to go up strength wise, but my grip just wasn’t there. I don’t know if it was me, or if the knurling was different, but I actually lost grip on the last set, and that shouldn’t be happening at that weight.
Barbell curls
Dumbbell oblique crunches. Once again strength wise I was ok using heavier weight, but grip wise I was not. Once again grip failed on the last set.
I think dropping at a weight you know you can lift strength wise is possibly more frustrating than not getting a lift done because it’s all over too heavy. SO, grrr1 -
i had some random guy i've never seen before (didn't like him either) make a big deal about me and my rows. it was like what i think running a marathon must be like: sidewalk lined with this one clapping, cheering supporter i'd never seen in my life.
and if that wasn't weird enough, there's the person he was a dead ringer for. i don't expect many north americans have come across johnny vegas, but . . . yeah. i'm just saying he's worth looking up, just so you can insert him into this scenario i'm sharing with you.
every time i replay the guy in my head, my imagination looks for the plastic cup of draft beer in the hand he doesn't have in the air in a fist while he goes 'STRONG!'2 -
Logging my workout from 12/1 finally.
Trying to get back into a consistent SL regime just in time for the disruptive holidays.
Squats 1x5 45, 1x5 65, 5x5 85
OH 5x5 50
DL 1x5 95, 1x5 115, 1x5 135
3 chin-ups.1 -
you guys are going to get so tired of me and my self-absorbed little rehab reports.
hamstrings have doms. and the tendons have mostly been quiet touch wood, so YAY. could be the deadlifts that i defiantly did, or the rows. but i choose to credit them to the bridges and falls. for the abduction and planks and so forth, well meh. i don't feel like i'm locating that glute med on the left, but you can't say i'm not trying to. i could just be building hell out of my tfl or glute min or something, but i'll keep at it.
the falls are the most interesting just because they're so you're-kidding-me. you're doing a glute-ham raise, basically. except that's way too hardcore to begin with, so you do them eccentric style, just like when you set out to work your way up to a standard pullup. except they are wayyyyyyyyyy harder to control than any kind of eccentric pullup. i can't see how doing 3x8 face flops twice a day is going to help very much, though. so for now i'm just settling for taking myself to the edge of the tipping point, holding there for a couple of seconds, and then coming back up. i'm hoping my range will improve over time until i am better able to control the true 'fall' part of it.0 -
Bench for dayyys!!! Except they reupholstered my favorite bench (read post from about a week ago, lol) and now the leather is kind of slippery. I was wearing a dry fit type of shirt, which is also slippy. And my neck still hurts so it's hard to hold my shoulder blades pinched. So my arch was laughable at best today and I kept getting lopsided. Still felt pretty strong, though, so I'm not mad at it
Bench press 45x8, 65x5, 75x3, 85x3, 95x3, 107.5x8 (? I'm drawing a blank, actually. was it 8, or 9? I don't have my log book with me right now lol). Then 85x13 for an amrap
it was superset with bulgarian split squats, bwx10, 10lbsx10 (goblet), 20x10 (goblet), 20x10 (front rack offset)
Then pendlay rows
45x8, 65x5, 75x4, 80x3, 92.5x3, 102.5x7, 80x12 (?)
superset with 10 reps of sumo deadlifts, 20lbs more than work sets on rows (except the last round I didn't do 'em)
10, 8, 6, 4, 2 for time
- knees to bows
- burpee to target
This time i had a tier, and i finished in 6:35 or so. Still sucks xD
Stretched and worked my neck a bit. I think I need some yoga tomorrow...0 -
Today, I had no enthusiasm. So I thought about doing nothing.... and then I decided my motivation level was partially do the fact my squat sheet looked downright evil and looked a whole lot like “fk that.”
And since I had eaten ALLLLL the foods today, I made a deal with myself that if I went, I would just do an actual stronglifts workout at reasonable weights, and pretend squat day doesn’t exist yet.
And then all the racks were taken, so I started with bench .... and this is where I got distracted... 10@45, 5@75, 5x5@100. And that felt like REALLY good. So I started into a 5x5@105, just to see how far I could get, and I got the whole thing. I really wanted to try 110, but no spotter, and no safety rack.... so I ended on that high.
Then I went to squat, because one rack was open, and these felt downright awful. So very good thing I derailed actual plan for the day or else I would have hated my life. I found out yet another reason why I should dislike this travel gym. Only one cage should I really squat in. The other one the safeties don’t go low enough for true *kitten* to grass. My warm up weights, where my depth is best, bar would rest on the safeties at the lowest setting.... and I know dang well I’m not getting all that low.
10@45, 5@65, 5@85... here I really thought about a true cop out and leaving this be my working weight. But I cowgirled up and did 5x5@95 a time least. These didn’t feel great... but felt better than any set of squats I’ve done for a while.... but I am seeing a redevelopment of one of the issues that caused trainer to deconstruct squats last week... leaning way far forward again. I see some quality time with a wall and squat therapy in my future.
And ... by this point I somehow had used up an hour, and although I didn’t quite do an actual stronglifts workout, I did double on bench, and so I let myself go back to hotel for something hot tub time.0 -
Another easy one. Was supposed to do it yesterday but didn't feel like leaving the apartment. Meet is Saturday and weigh-in is tomorrow morning.
squat 1x3 @ 108, 2x3 @ 129, 3x2 @ 155
bench 1x3 @ 65, 2x3 @ 75, 3x2 @ 88
sauna for 20 minutes roughly
And I've learned it's hard to get in calories on liquids but staying minimal carb. Pesky water cut. Plus side, after weigh in can eat whatever. mmmm carbs1 -
10@45, 5@65, 5@85... here I really thought about a true cop out and leaving this be my working weight. But I cowgirled up and did 5x5@95 a time least. These didn’t feel great... but felt better than any set of squats I’ve done for a while.... but I am seeing a redevelopment of one of the issues that caused trainer to deconstruct squats last week... leaning way far forward again. I see some quality time with a wall and squat therapy in my future.
Your trainer may have been on to something with the safety bar squats if you have an issue with forward lean. Perhaps you could try switching to front squats for a while. You'll use less weight (less evil-looking) but you'll build the much-needed upper back strength required to stay upright. Good morning squats make my SI joint cry (even just seeing someone do them), so I try to avoid them like the plague now. It took a while for me to get to a point where I could handle heavy weight without folding over. Lotsa core work (which you've been doing!) and all the form tweaks.
I... am going to get dressed and do some kind of yoga workout here shortly. I swear!
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In my past corrective endeavors, my forward lean seems to be caused more by some sort of mobility issues than a strength issue. Because I imagine from what I saw last night I wouldn’t be able to do an air squat without the forward lean. And if I focus on it, it gets better... so then I stop focusing on it.
So, I need to spend some of my free time doing air squats facing a wall. And work my way in, until my range of motion allows for upright again. I don’t know which friend called it squat therapy once, but lacking a better name, that is what it became.
Also, as I’m typing this, I’m realizing squat deconstruct day was also the day he suggested I look into romwod or mobilitywod... hmmmmm I am noticing a pattern here. Oops
Also, one day maybe I should ask trainer about front squats.... I am yet to find a way to do them that doesn’t hurt my arms/wrists AND is anywhere near stable. Have I mentioned flexibility is not one of my traits? Like not even a weak trait, like I don’t possess that trait. Yes, above mentioned romwod stuff is on the Christmas list.0
