michele's training log

[Michele Knaub]

obv, Satan.

missed my usual session Tuesday but made it up today - i nearly skipped into the gym, I was so happy to be there.

squat

45x5
65x5
95x5
125x3
135x2
145x1

152.5x3x5


having a lot of trouble keeping my back on these. but i did them.


bench

i have been stalling a bit on the bench; typically i fail at the fifth rep in a heavy 3x5. so my coach switched up the program. now: five heavyish sets of three reps each.

work@75lbs.... easy.

chins

10,7,9


i really want some ice cream.

[Michele Knaub]

the amount of ice cream i've eaten since my last post is certifiably obscene.

today i was nervous to squat because i'm pretty much at my work-weight all-time max and i hate failing. i also hate pain.

squat

45x5
65x5
95x5
120x3
135x2
145x1

155x1 This was supposed to be my first work set. I racked it after the first rep for no reason other than I wussed out.

155x5x3 Unpretty. I get soft at the bottom lately and then lose my back on the way up. Really I'm squatting a bit too deep, which after a year is a tough habit to unlearn.
Also, my current 1-RM is 170 so this feels pretty fucking heavy.


Press

First day on the new program, which is 5 sets of 3 reps.

work: 52.5.

No issues.

Clean

I forget, either 80 or 85. I only did two sets of planned three because my shoulder is really bugging me - I think it's the pushup program I'm on.


THEN


I tested if I could do a strict chin-up yet. To my surprise, I didn't have trouble getting from dead-stop to halfway up - that's new. In the past I haven't been able to get the thing started at all from a dead hang.

This time, suddenly, I was able to; then I stalled halfway up and couldn't get going again.

So I put up the thinnest band we have - it kind of looks like a rubber band, this thing, quite thin and flimsy and a hilarious shade of pinky orange, like salt water taffy.

And I did it. One chin-up with that sucker.

That's new. I mean, I lost some weight. But whatever, I'm way closer to a chin-up than I was two months ago.

[Michele Knaub]

even though my shoulder was sore, i signed up for and showed up to a competition yesterday. i scratched two of the three events, but the modified Zercher squat i *did* do irritated my shoulder probably more than the other two would've.

plus it made my back stiff as hell today.

boo.


anyway.


today my coach uttered the priceless phrase i've been dying to hear with regard to my squat: BACK OFF!

warmup

45x5
65x5
85x5
105x3
125x1

work

135x5x3

really, really trying hard not to squat too deep.

bench

switching to a 'heavy triple' schema so today was about testing my 3-RM. i warmed up my shoulder on the bench and it indeed felt better the warmer it got, so we went ahead with the 3-RM test. the idea was go give myself three tries to find the heaviest triple i could manage.

i am a detailed log-keeper so i guessed what my 3-RM would be and hit it on the first attempt.

warmup

45x5
55x5
65x3
85x1

work

90x3 (PR)

tried 91x3, failed.

Something new happened on the bench: when I got stuck on the third rep at 90, I didn't give up when it started to grind. Usually if I stall, I'm done. I looked REALLY ready to fail and my coach was on top of me ready to spot because he knows how I roll - but I got it up.

So. Yay.

Deadlift

Was going to skip it because of the Zercher bullshit, but with my shoulder out of sorts, there wasn't much else i could do BUT deadlift.

So I did. Except that my extreme life stress these last few months has totally destroyed my ability to deadlift at weights I used to handle with relative ease.

So, work:

165x5 and even the last rep at THAT pathetic weight was shitty.

Then

I tried the chinups again, with the teeny tiny band, and whereas last time I did ONE, rested, and failed at the second, this time I did two.

Again: yay.

[Tamara Reynolds]

I tried the chinups again, with the teeny tiny band, and whereas last time I did ONE, rested, and failed at the second, this time I did two.

So: yay.

Now what you do is 3 sets of max reps with that band. Rest what you need in between sets. It may be 1-1-1. But, it may be 2-1-1. Soon, you will get it to 2-2-2, and so on. The band you are using is the skinniest one, right?

[Michele Knaub]

Skinniest most skinny of all time, yes.

What about the argument that I need volume to get stronger? That is an honest question.

[Tamara Reynolds]

Skinniest most skinny of all time, yes.

What about the argument that I need volume to get stronger? That is an honest question.

I think volume is good. You could do 10x1 and/or space reps throughout the day. Grease the groove. I just haven't found that volume with a heavier band works. So, do as many reps as you can with the light band. I thought negatives helped me and also Lat pulldowns.

[Michele Knaub]

right now i have no ability to do a truly groove-greasing program with pullups - no place to hang a bar either at work or at home (i tried.) but i will tell my coach i want to try working with the thinner band instead of knocking out more reps with a heavier one, and see how it goes. he'll be down for it.

thanks a ton for your input - i'm very grateful.

[Michele Knaub]

CHINUP UPDATE

thanks Tbone. i took your advice and did sets of 1 throughout my workout tonight; even without eating all day and even with bunching the final 4 into the last 15 minutes, i was able to do TEN total. in fact, i didn't even fail - i just had to stop because the gym was closing.

!!

squat


when my coach heard i hadn't eaten today, he lowered my work weight.

145x5x3


press

55x3x5


shoulder started hurting soon into the press sets; i've been off the pushup program for a couple days already but it's still sore.


chins

1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1.


then i went and forced some tacos down my pie-hole.

[Brandi120]

Just saw this thread. Following :-)

You made me hungry for ice cream, which isn't all that difficult.

[Michele Knaub]

i didn't have any yesterday. it was a sad day.