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Thread: Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

  1. #3871
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    • starting strength seminar december 2024
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimB View Post
    Wow - that 585 absolutely flew up
    Yup - the 595 at the meet a few weeks ago did too. I haven't touched 600 since my pretty quick 635 back in early August at WFAC.
    But despite moving pretty fast and not grinding at all, that knocked me on my ass for like 2 weeks. I've finally realized, slow as I am about my own body, that because of my longstanding back issues, the DL, specifically, needs a different approach than my other lifts and what I've done in the past. I could hit that 635 with 1-2 reps in the tank, but because my back and hips were unused to pushing against heavy weights, it messed them up for 2+ weeks. I've utilized heavy but submax 1s, 2s, and 3s in my training for years now, but I'm really focusing on a linear re-LP of heavy singles in the DL, to steadily re-adjust to the demands of heavy pulls. I've been strong enough at several points in the past to be within striking distance of 700, so most of this is really just re-adapting and re-sensitizing myself to the demands of it, more than actually building new strength i've never had. The LP of heavy singles, while steadily adding volume work to build the little bit I need, hopefully will put me in the spot I need to be in in 10 weeks.

  2. #3872
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    Press: 1st rep 2.0, then all dead stop strict afterwards
    95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 185x5x3

    Power Clean: 6" blocks
    95x3, 135x3, 155x2, 175x2, 185x2, 195x2, 205x2x5
    Notes: Should've done way fewer sets the first time doing these in a couple months, and only second time since hernia surgery last August I think. Oh well, thighs will be red and traps sore tomorrow.

    Bench Rehab
    45x15, 95x10, 135x10, 185x8, 235x5, 265x5, 285x2, 185x10 with wider grip

    T-Bar Row
    115x10, 160x10x4
    LTEs
    92x10, 112x10x2

  3. #3873
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    Great training day yesterday, despite rushing a bit to finish in time for the Arduous March, which you can watch here if you missed it last night.



    Walking the dog at 1am afterwards was a bit rough, as was waking up this morning, but that's probably more than I've had to drink in one sitting since 2010 or so, so not too bad at all all things considered. Matt (ginger mott) is an SS lifter as well, who I think has just finished or is still in his LP, so we had some fun talking shop after the show.

    Anyway, training.

    Press: Belt for all, wraps for all but first 260 set
    260x2x2 @ 8.5, 7.5
    280x1 @8.5
    260x5 @9 - PR
    Notes: Didn't rest or focus adequately for the first 260 set and it wasn't a great one. I rested more, but on my wrist wraps for moral support, and crushed the next one and thought I might have a PR set of fahve in me today, so I did a heavy single and then dropped back down and crushed it. I'd done 250x6 back about a year and a half ago, but still very excited about this one!

    260x5 Press on IG

    Deadlift: 3" belt
    600x1 @6.5
    535x2x2 @6.5, 7
    Notes: 600 single was the smoothest, fastest I've ever pulled 600 or at least tied for it. Back in summer 2015 I was really humming and did 600x3, the first two reps of which would have predicted a set of 5. I let the bar get WAY off my legs on rep 3, so it was a grind and I called it there. But the first rep flew. Comparing that high water mark of my deadlifting strength to now, I'm either a little better or at worst the same, and I was real close to 700 back then (pulled 650 @9 a few months later without having trained the deadlift at all in the intervening months because of a recurring back tweak, so 700 wouldn't have been out of the question taking away the 3-4 months without training it).

    600x1 on IG, with comparison to 2015

    My back has never fully healed and recovered from the injury I incurred in January, 2017, so it always feels somewhat bad. But since that's the new normal, Deadlifts feel as good as they have since then and are moving fast week over week as I increase the weight of my heavy singles.

    No tweaks between now and nationals and I think 700 is finally going to fall.

    Bench Rehab
    135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 265x5, 285x5, 305x5, 245x5, 185x10 with wider grip
    Notes: Did these between DL sets to save time. Really started reducing reps here, as the weight is up enough that doing lots of tens and eights with high 200s and low 300s, 3x/week, burns me out and effects pressing too.

    Ring Rows
    BWx9x4

    DB Curls
    50x10x3

  4. #3874
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    Me: Training is going exceptionally well, I can't believe it. A 700 DL is finally in sight.
    Universe: Wolf's disease, muahahahahahaha!

    So I got dinged pretty bad tonight. Or at least it feels bad now. Guess we'll see in the morning.

    Press: belt, wraps
    225x5x5 @7-7.5
    Notes: Delts felt a little fatigued but these moved well and fast. Rested 5-6 mins between sets. Solid. It was just over 5 years ago (5 years and one month, to be exact) that I finally pressed 225x5 for the first time for a new 5 RM. I had first pressed it for a single 3.5 years prior to that. And then first pressed it for 5x5 another 3.5 years later, last spring. But it's still exciting to me.
    225x5 last set on IG.

    Deadlift: 3"belt, straps for last 2 sets
    Progression was 155x5, 265x4, 375x2, 485x1
    565x1 @6 with belt
    Then 610x1 @8 (because of the pain) with belt + back tweak. Fuggggg.
    Notes: The story is my left lower back/hip had felt tight today, possibly because of being on nonstop since 9am (it was 7:30pm by this point), moving and carrying a bunch of stuff from my apartment and already having walked 7 miles around the city.

    So I was considering scrapping DLs, but figured I'd warm up and see how they felt. The first two warm-up sets felt crappy and then it felt much better after that. In fact, by the time I did the 485 set, I didn't feel anything at all. 565 flew up just like all the previous singles lately have been doing and felt great, with no residual tightness at all, so I think great, I'll get in another heavier top single + some back-off volume today.

    I set up to pull 610, get the slack out of the bar and initiate by focusing pushing the floor away, as I always do. As the bar finished bending up and there was that pause before it started moving, my right lower back went, and I quote, "POP!" By the time I felt it, the bar was already moving and I just finished the rep and it went pretty fast after slow off the floor. But I felt it immediately and got worse as the workout went on.

    This was NOT the side that felt tight beforehand, but the other side, which at this point in my life nags me off and on always, but hasn't had a specific issue for a couple years. Yet here it was failing on me for no discernible reason, other than the universe deciding to shit on me once again.

    Fatigue management? In general, I'm still ramping back up to weights and workload I've been at multiple times before, and haven't yet really accumulated more than a modicum of fatigue.
    Intensity-wise, I have been doing two increasingly heavy singles per week, but they haven't actually been that heavy yet. 600 on Friday is still less than 90%. My DLs this cycle have been entirely either @6-6.5 or below (one single rep @7 on Friday), or else very slightly harder but still nowhere near any xRMs, and anything above @7 has been at %s in the low to mid 60s at most. Volume-wise I did that 3x6 workout last week which was on the higher side, but generally am doing well within the normal amount of weekly work I've done in the past, at 15-25 working reps most weeks.

    I'm obviously super duper double extra frustrated. I wish I could go back and stop at 565 and back off to some volume in the mid 400s. But 565 flew up, felt great, and there was no indication something was wrong. I don't think there's an obvious cause. I'm just very frustrated.

    Also putting away ten 55 lb plates after this happened sucked monkey balls.

    Bench Press
    135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 275x5, 305x5, 325x5, 225x5, 135x15 with wider grip
    Notes: Good news is pec continues to improve. Bad news is that arching hurt after the back tweak.

    Ring Rows
    BWx10x4
    LTEs
    97x10, 117x10 - stopped after two sets because picking the bar up and getting into position felt like it was at risk of further irritating my back.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 11-19-2018 at 11:34 PM.

  5. #3875
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    Early AM lift and very short today, as I had movers arriving at 8:30am to get my stuff. Thanksgiving with fam, then back to the city for one more lift Friday, junk removal coming Saturday to take away the stuff I'm not bringing with me, then leave Sunday for a 3-4 day drive.

    Back tweak appears to be medium, and while it's sensitive to both flexion and over-extension, the latter seems to ping it worse. Unracking presses was actually somewhat uncomfortable. But it's less severe than I thought it would be based on how it felt right after. For me, "less severe" means only a few weeks away from deadlifting, instead of 6-8 weeks. I'm still just guessing, but based on how it feels, I think 2-3 weeks is a decent guess. I hope so. I can train for the meet if it's only 2-3 weeks. If it's 6-8 weeks as my back tweaks often are, then i won't be able to train for the meet.

    Press
    165x8x3
    Notes: Easy, but felt some noticeable in my back with unracking.

    Bench - skipped for time.

    Chins and Pullups
    Two sets of 3 reps each
    Notes: Pec felt ok here, which was great.

    DB Curls
    50x10x2

  6. #3876
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    After a night sleeping on my sister's couch, I revise my statement: I estimate I will be back up and running and deadlifting again in 147-153 years.

  7. #3877
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    Back Update: I was only slightly exaggerating in my last post - since sleeping on that couch, my back has felt worse throughout the day than before, so I was actually worried it made things worse. But unracking presses was much better today than Wednesday morning, and arching during the bench was better too. After warming up the press, I decided to do Press 1.0 for my work-sets, as the hip-reach was irritating my low back a little, but only a little. Overall it's better than it was two days ago.

    Press 1.0
    265x2x3 @8.5, 8, 9
    Notes: Really nailed it on the second set, but regardless it was nice to be able to strict press this and then double it, after having this be my press PR for a while - from March 2015 until after my recovery from shoulder surgery.

    265x2 Press on IG

    Bench
    135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 345x5, 315x5, 205x10 with wider grip
    Notes: Feels like bench rehab is done. Now just need to ramp back up work capacity and weight again.

    Pullups and Chins
    2 sets of 3 reps each, and a final set of one each

    LTEs
    87x10, 107x10, 127x10

    Depending how it feels, I may try to pull on Monday in my on-the-road training that should be in Tennessee, if all goes to plan on the drive.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 11-24-2018 at 09:07 AM.

  8. #3878
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    My favorite thing about that press is how quickly you set your feet and got that first rep up. You wasted no energy.
    Awesome.

  9. #3879
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    1) sorry to hear about back tweak
    2) glad to see your press training is going well
    3) last workout in nyc? How many years at solace was that, 4? Safe travels to Texas and good luck with the move

  10. #3880
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    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Longnecker View Post
    My favorite thing about that press is how quickly you set your feet and got that first rep up. You wasted no energy.
    Awesome.
    I find this to be one of the more overlooked aspects of all the lifts, but especially the press and bench. I want the breath I take before unracking to last for the first rep. In a limit single, that's the ONLY rep, and also slower - so no time wasted in the setup is possible. When you let out your air, you lose some stiffness that you just can't regain in those two lifts, and you also waste time and energy holding the bar while you exhale and then inhale for the rep. Better to just walk out/unrack as directly into your first rep as possible, taking all the time you need to set up for it, but not a nanosecond more.

    Quote Originally Posted by JimB View Post
    1) sorry to hear about back tweak
    2) glad to see your press training is going well
    3) last workout in nyc? How many years at solace was that, 4? Safe travels to Texas and good luck with the move
    Thanks Big Jim. I was at Solace for 4+ years since the day they opened in October, 2014. I'm glad Hayden and Ryan are taking over what I built there, makes me happy to know a couple guys who I had a hand in mentoring will be continuing the good work.

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