Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[Walter Palmer]

Smart move on not trying to save the deadlift at the expense of another tweak. Good to see you have some surprises in advance of your surgery.

[Michael Wolf]

A massively unexpected Press PR was a very pleasant surprise yesterday!

Press
45x15, 95x10, 135x7, 170x5, 195x3, 215x2, 230x2, 242.5x1, 252.5x1@9.5, 257.5x1@9.75, 260xf, 260x1*, 227.5x5 - PR!
Notes: First, it was nice to make my pre-injury initial jumps of 45-95-135. I did more reps because it still requires more work to warm up my shoulder, but the weight jumps were OK even though they felt a bit heavy in my hands upon unracking.

Second, I did REALLY solid reps at 252.5 and 257.5. Unfortunately I didn't film them but 252.5 had a shot at a double, which would have been a 2.5 lb 2-rep PR for me. 257.5 wasn't going to be a double but had gas in the tank. I missed 260, and then made a dubious 260 afterwards - I didn't quite properly lock it out and lost control a bit, but for a training rep it was OK enough and only 5 lbs below my lifetime PR. Which was shocking.

Then I went and hit a hard fought 227.5x5 PR set of five. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't think I'd touch 225 for a single before surgery, and here I was besting it for a set of five AFTER some legitimately heavy singles. This all put me in a good mood.

Instagram

Deadlift
135x5, 225x5, 315x3x2
Notes: Back still cranky so shut it down.

Chins
5,7,9,10,8,8,8,8 = 63 reps

KB 1A PR
Left: 24kgx5; 32x5; 36x5; 40x5; 44x3,6
Right: 24kgx5; 32x5; 36x5; 40x3; 36x5,10
Notes: Pleased with 44kgx6 on the left and 36kgx10 on the right.
Instagram

[risepmj]

Awesome!! Seems your press volume was not that high.what do you think what did make you hit the PR even absence of the benching?

[Michael Wolf]

Awesome!! Seems your press volume was not that high.what do you think what did make you hit the PR even absence of the benching?

To be honest, it's most likely because my previous press PRs were artificially low. I had gotten stronger but due to various circumstances, not expressed that strength in new xRM press lifts. My guess is that I could have pressed 235-240x5 as a 5RM pre-injury, had I tailored my workload to produce a real 5RM, and probably 275 for a 1RM. So that this 227.5x5 and 260 rep, while great, aren't really expressions of new strength but of re-building. It's still surprising that I'm working this close to my old limits with my shoulder injury being what it is, but while 225x5 was technically my old 5 rep PR, it hadn't been my true 5 rep max in a while.

[Chris McCarthy]

Fine work.

[DeriHughes]

At first glance I read that in kilograms and thought you'd pressed 500lbs for a set of five. Pretty damn impressive even so!

[Michael Wolf]

At first glance I read that in kilograms and thought you'd pressed 500lbs for a set of five. Pretty damn impressive even so!

HA! Now that would've been a feat. I hope to press 315 for a single one day.

[Michael Wolf]

Somewhat fatigued from a very busy weekend with little sleep and a bunch of non-gym lifting and carrying on Sunday.

Press
45x15, 95x10, 135x6, 165x5, 185x4 (belted here on), 195x4, 202.5x4, 192.5x4,4,5
Notes: Planned on 202.5 for 4,4,4,4+, but had to scale back 10 lbs due to fatigue. Everything felt heavy and like I couldn't keep it as close to my face as I wanted.

Chins
BWx5, BW+12kg x4, BW+16kg x4, BW+43lb x3, BW+45lb x3, BW+16kgx3x2, BWx11

DL
185x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3
Notes: Felt better than last week but still a little off. Shot a vid from the back and hips looked somewhat uneven in the set-up and pull, right side higher than left.

KB 1A Press
Left: 24x8, 32x8x3
Right: 24x8, 32x6x3
Notes: Went lighter here after feeling the fatigue in the press.

[Michael Wolf]

Very light day today.

Press - beltless
45x15, 85x10, 115x8, 145x6, 165x6x2
Notes: Still feeling some fatigue in my shoulders.

Ring Rows
BWx10x4

[Dildo Bolt]

Do you mind saying why you like one arm presses? Seems a bit odd for an SSC