Feigenbaum Foils Fuckarounditis?

[Gerhard]

Training is starting to feel stale and frustrating now. I might hit some heavy squat/press/deadlift singles soon to (hopefully) get the sense of accomplishment that PRs should bring.

Upper/Lower, one comp lift (including Press) headlining each training day. Use percentages for the comp lifts but throw in singles, follow that up with a secondary lift using RPE for volume, add in some fluff/GPP - profit?

[bean counter]

Upper/Lower, one comp lift (including Press) headlining each training day. Use percentages for the comp lifts but throw in singles, follow that up with a secondary lift using RPE for volume, add in some fluff/GPP - profit?

I'm not stale enough to change to something substantially different. I also can't see myself switching back to any percentage based programming any time soon.

26 May 2015, Week #22, Session #4 [#81]

Bodyweight: 91 kg

Another easy/fun session #4 this week.

Press
65 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8
67.5 kg: 1 X 1 @ 9.5 [PR]
60 kg: 1 X 5 @ 9 [PR], 1 X 3 @ 8
Totals: 10 reps, 615 kg

PR day. 70 kg would have been awesome, but after a tough lift at 67.5 kg (2.5 kg PR) I didn't want to fail. 60 kg for five (1.25 kg PR) is a major milestone and was one of my goals for the year.

Power Snatch 42.5 kg: 5 X 2
Overhead Squat 20 kg: 3 X 3
Dips BW: 3 X 5
Hammer Curls 16 kg: 6,6,6,6,4,4 = 32 reps each side

Weekly Totals
Squatting: 56 reps, 6,630 kg [=]
Pressing: 94 reps, 6,910 kg [+]
Pulling: 12 reps, 1,800 kg [+]

[bean counter]

28 May 2015, Week #23, Session #1 [#82]

Bodyweight: 90 kg

Squat
140 kg: 1 X 2 @ 7
150 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8 [PR]
155 kg: 1 X 1 @ 9 [PR]
160 kg: 1 X 1 @ 9.5 [PR]
140 kg: 3 X 3 @ 8, 8, 8
Totals: 14 reps, 2,005 kg

Edit - video links added for the singles

I gave myself a singles day and managed three PRs, for an improvement of 15 kg over my previous best. 150 was was easy. 155 wasn't too bad, but my bar path drifted forward at one point. 160 was tough, a bit ugly (asymmetrical) and briefly turned grindy. Back off triples at 140 kg to get a little bit of volume in.

TnG Bench
83.75 kg: 4 X 8 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5
Totals: 32 reps, 2,680 kg

I still rated the first three sets as @8, but they were noticably smoother than the last couple of weeks. I'll aim to progress to 85 kg next week.

Pullups
BW: 3 X 5

This wasn't a good idea as my elbows have flared up since.

[Gerhard]

Squat
140 kg: 1 X 2 @ 7
150 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8 [PR]
155 kg: 1 X 1 @ 9 [PR]
160 kg: 1 X 1 @ 9.5 [PR]
140 kg: 3 X 3 @ 8, 8, 8
Totals: 14 reps, 2,005 kg

Nailed it! Well done!

[Frstefan]

Solid man. For a max you held together pretty good!

[bean counter]

Thanks guys!

30 May 2015, Week #22, Session #3 [#82]

Bodyweight: 89 kg

I thought I had 90 kg for good now, but it's slipped again.

Deadlift
165 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8
175 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8.5 [PR] video link
180 kg: 0x X 1 @ 10 video link
Total: 2 reps, 340 kg

5 kg PR, but a big dissapointment. 180 kg would have been 2x bodyweight. Too much back rounding. The 180 kg failure felt on the verge of tweaking my back, so I didn't do any more DL volume, which rather ruins my pulling training for this week. Oh well, such is the danger of trying 1RMs. I've now singled all my main lifts recently so I should feel no compulsion to do so again soon.

I thought I had 60 kg on the bar after deloading, but it was actually 70 kg, so I messed up my power clean to rack the bar and jammed my wrists, which didn't help the rest of the session.

Press
52.5 kg: 1 X 6 @ 7
55 kg: 1 X 6 @ 8
57.5 kg: 1 X 6 @ 9
53.75 kg: 2 X 6 @ 8, 8
Total: 30 reps, 1,635 kg

Good, all on target.

Front Squat
95 kg: 3 X 3 @ 9, 9, 9
Total: 9 reps, 855 kg

Tough but all complete.

DB Rows 32 kg: 5 X 5
GHR +10 kg: 3 X 5

Snatch stuff
Messed around with the bar, doing power snatch, overhead squats and snatch balances. Finished off with 30 kg and did my first ever full snatch (extremely poorly as might be expected).

[bean counter]

31 May 2015, 89 kg

Spin bike: 20 minutes gentle
Chins: 4 X 5

[bean counter]

1 June 2015, Week #23, Session #3 [#84]

Bodyweight: 89 kg

For no apparent reason I felt exhausted yesterday. Getting up this morning wasn't too easy either.

Squat
117.5 kg: 4 X 8 @ 8, 8, 7.5, 8
Totals: 32 reps, 3,760 kg

I've been hurrying through my 8s recently, but decided to take a more measured approach, with two breaths between reps and more focus on technique. Either this or improved strength helped, as while 8s were still unpleasant I wasn't as completely gassed post-set as I have been previously and bar speed didn't deteriorate too much. I guess I should be moving up to 120 kg finally. My right knee is a bit sore post session and my back is tight.

TnG Bench
90 kg: 1 X 4 @ 7
95 kg: 1 X 4 @ 8
100 kg: 1 X 5 @ 9.5 [PR]
92.5 kg: 2 X 4 @ 7.5, 7.5
Totals: 21 reps, 1,980 kg

The part of my back I will continue to refer to at my right QL until my mediocre anatomy knowledge is corrected was tight after squatting and got a bit sore on the bench setup so I had to stretch it out. My bar path wobbled on rep three of the 95 kg set, but I saved it. Somehow, with 100 kg came a burst of strength and I charged on for an extra rep, hitting my 100 kg X 5 goal. Target 101.25 kg X 4 next week. Back-off sets were probably a bit modest, but I didn't want to mess up my session after PRing.


This was an excellent session overall despite not feeling fresh going into it. I've now hit all of my current goals apart from a 165 kg X 5 deadlift, which should fall by the end of June and let me set some new goals for the second half of the year.

[bean counter]

2 June 2015, Week #22, Session #4 [#85]

Bodyweight: 90 kg

Press
57.5 kg: 1 X 3 @ 7.5
60 kg: 1 X 3 @ 8
62.5 kg: 1 X 3 @ 9
58.75 kg: 1 X 3 @ 7.5
60 kg: 1 X 3 @ 8
Totals: 15 reps, 900 kg

My left shoulder has been especially junky for the last few days and didn't feel great while pressing. Not really on point today - 60 X 3 should be @ 7 max on a good day, but I did back off too far for my first down set and went back to 60 kg for the final set.

Power Snatch
45 kg: 5 X 2

Significantly tougher than before. No misses, but not as clean as I'd like. 47.5 kg will be interesting, as I've only ever singled that before. Shoulder felt OK during this.

Snatch Grip Deadlift
100 kg: 1 X 5

Lured in by the hype. My pathetic grip strength couldn't cope with DOH (on a fat bar) and hook grip was unusually painful with the snatch grip. I avoided my tackle but the bar still bumped painfully against my pubis on lockout.

Weekly Totals
Squatting: 55 reps, 6,620 kg [=]
Pressing: 98 reps, 7,190 kg [+]
Pulling: 2 reps, 340 kg [--!]

[bean counter]

4 June 2015, Week #24, Session #1 [#86]

Bodyweight: 89 kg

Despite lots of milk this week my bodyweight has still fluctuated down once again. My shoulder is annoying me so I'm going to throw some ibuprofen at it. I also slept on my back last night, but that wasn't very comfortable, perhaps just because I'm not used to it. I'll try again tonight.

Squat
132.5 kg: 1 X 4 @ 7
137.5 kg: 1 X 4 @ 8-
145 kg: 1 X 4 @ 9-
140 kg: 1 X 4 @ 8.5
Totals: 16 reps, 2,220 kg

Great. 145 X 4 kg equals my PR, and gives me an E1RM of 168 kg. This was no doubt assisted by carrying forward the confidence and technique from last week's heavy singles. I was on the verge of calling sets two and three @7.5 and @8.5, but having not squatted this heavy for reps in a few weeks I was being a bit cautious. All being well I'll go for 147.5 kg X 4 next week.

TnG Bench
85 kg: 4 X 8 @ 8, 8, 8, 8
Totals: 32 reps, 2,720 kg

+1.25 kg from last week and RPE on target, so this did what it needed to do. The spotters for sets three and four weren't good and tried to rerack the bar after seven and six reps respectively. I'll probably hold this weight steady next week.

DB Rows
32 kg: 3 X 5 (each side)
20 kg: 1 X 10 (each side)