Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[Michael Wolf]

Hamstring still improving. Def not quite there yet, but coming along.

Block Pulls: 4"
445x5, 475x4, 495x4 - beltless
Notes: Hammy felt fine at 4". Will try 2" next week either Weds or Sat. These moved well and felt solid.

445, 475, 495 deadlifts on IG

Leg Press
45x10, 135x10, 185x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5.
Notes: Last time I tried these, 3 days post injury, I could only go to 95. So 365 is a big improvement - felt hammy a little the whole way, but at 365 felt it in a way that seemed borderline to its capability, so cut it there.

Also I found out apparently the empty sled is 100 lbs of force, so "365" is actually 420. But it's seems easier to just call it 365.

Cable Row
210x10, 225x10, 180x10 with 2ct pause on my torso
Notes: Kinda similar to leg press. Started feeling hammy in a way that seemed an irritant, so cut back the weight.

DB Strict Curls
35x15, 40x12x2
Side Plank
18s x3 sets - these still suck.

Assault Bike
30/40 x6 - 51 cals. Went a little faster than I planned, and again felt hammy come on in a way that seemed not great on the 6th interval, so stopped there. Planned to do 8.

Still overall a very positive day, showing good steps forward. Gotta stay patient and not rush it, but finally some good movement.

[Michael Wolf]

Upper body training is going so well right now, I've more or less gotten back to PR levels in bench and press, with another 7 weeks to go before the meet (which I still plan to do, hamstring willing!). I was at about this level a few weeks out from USSF Nats in Dec/January last year, whereas this time I have a full 7 weeks left to make use of, AND I didn't truly max out my bench last time either, so should be to squeeze out some nice PRs.

I was tempted to take a low stress this week after benching 465 and 325x10 on Friday, the end of 5 weeks of meet prep schedule; but things still feel good and I don't feel very beat up. So I decided on ONE more 2 week mini cycle with a 480 bench PR planned for next Friday, after which I'll take a low stress upper body week and then have a 4 week final stretch.

OK, onto today's work.

Press
245x2 - loose belt; 260x2x2, then 225x10 - ties 10RM, belt +wraps
Notes: Super happy to be back at 225x10 which I did about a month prior to USSF nationals last year.

Bench Press
375x5x4 - volume weight PR
DB RDLs
4 sets of 8 at: 15, 20, 25, 30
Notes: 375x5x4 is the heaviest I've ever done for volume. Not a "volume PR" in terms of tonnage for a single bench workout, but the heaviest I've used for volume work. Did 365x5x5 at a slightly harder difficulty in June 2018, so while this is obviously one set less, I think it represents a small but noticeable bit of progress. I was scheduled to PR my bench at 475 a few weeks after that, but tweaked my pec on the prior attempt at 455 and couldn't make 475. Had to wait 6 more months to hit 475 in December, 2018.

225x10 press and 375x5 bench press on IG

Lat Pulldown (MAG Grip)
260x6x4 (full stack +35 lbs)
Plank
40s x4

LTEs
133x8x3 (formerly called "140" before I weighed the bar)

Assault Bike - just 2.5 mins easy riding to get a little more blood into the hammy
Cooled off with 3x12 external rotations

[Michael Wolf]

Weds, 1/29

Block Pull: 6"
615x1, 645x1 - 3" belt
Block Pull: 2"
315x3, 365x3 - DOH grip with 3-5 second holds at the top
Notes: I like to squat first but someone was using the safety bar when I got in, which is funny considering I've only seen it used maybe 10 total times in 14 months of membership at this gym, and it was a quiet afternoon on a random Weds. But there ya go. So I pulled first.

These were solid, takes forever to set up and warm up, but everything moved well. I need to keep reminding myself how long it feels like it takes for heavy weight to start moving from the blocks. But once it starts, it's at lockout almost immediately.

Back-offs from 2 inches felt fine on hammy so I'll try pulling from the floor either Sat or next week.

SSB Front Squat: 3" belt
320x5, 365x5 after warmups
Notes: Went up 25 lbs from last week. Rocked my old pendlay do-wins from 2008. Good times. Will try low bar next week.

645 block pull and 365x5 SSB Fronties on IG

Press: Strict, wider grip (~1.5 inches wider than normal)
185x5, 205x5x2
Notes: Elbows are starting to get a little beat up from all the work, so the wider grip puts less pressure on them. Fine for a lighter day.

Close Grip Bench: 2ct pause on last rep
275x5, 295x5x2

Cable 1-Arm Seated Row
105x10x3
Notes: Instead of doing the normal version that's continued to pull at my hamstring, I found a longer 1 handed handle and using that, could set myself up in such a way to get no pull on the hamstring. So got these in at a roughly equivalent weight.

Assault Bike
26/55 x7 - 57 cals
Notes: Ramped intensity up a bit, felt OK and got all 7 in this time without having to bail early. Still far from pushing full speed but good to see the progress.

DB Curls
60x10x2 after warmup

[Michael Wolf]

Friday, 2/1
Another solid day in the books, though did tweak my pec a little in a kind of ironic twist. More on that below, but still, had a PR paused bench with TONS of gas in the tank so feeling great about that.

Bench Press: 1ct pause on first rep
365x2, 395x2, 415x2, 435x1 - PR[ @7.5
Notes: 435x1 paused bench PR on IG!

Probably foolishly, I was trying on the warm-up sets to see if I could go back out another inch or two wider to my old pre-2015 bench grip of pinky on or close to the PL rings. PINKY, mind you, not maximum PL legal grip width of index finger. I'm 6' tall with roughly average length arms, for reference. The reason I narrowed my grip in mid 2015 is because my lifelong grip combined with chins was causing left pec strains, and the narrow grip reduced the frequency of those - didn't stop them altogether, but put less stress on the spot that would strain.

So I was feeling that spot in my left pec again, so at 365 I moved back to my usual grip. Could still feel the residual effects from the wider grip warmups, more and more as the weight went up, so at 415 I almost called it a day and moved to press. But I decided it was more in my head than anything - not entirely, but more - and went to 435. Which went up SUPER fast, almost as fast as it went up unpaused last week. And my left pec felt fine, so good call, right? LOL you'd think so. But you'd be, as the 45th president would say, WRONG.

Ironically, it was my RIGHT pec, which had felt totally fine and normal right up till then, and which I've only strained once in my life compared to something like 6 times on my left side, which tweaked at 435. It was supposed to be a double but I racked it after the one. Maybe I should have taken the low stress week here, or maybe this was just totally random.

It doesn't feel very major, but I'm done making guesses or predictions about these things cause they're usually not very accurate. Maybe it'll be fine by next week, maybe it'll take a month. I was planning on one more TnG bench PR this Friday, before taking a low stress week followed by a ramp-up week, so other than this coming Friday, bench would've been easier for the next 3 weeks anyway. So even if I have to miss that one PR, it's not a big deal in the grand scheme, I had 3 lighter weeks ahead anyway. And who knows, maybe it'll be fine in a few days and I'll be able to hit the PR this Friday. We'll see. But either way I'm not stressing about it and thrilled with the bar speed here on this 435 PR.

Press: 4" belt + rogue wraps
245x5x4
Notes: Got a little challenging but mostly very solid, did on about 5 mins rest. When I pressed 250x5x5 about 13-14 months ago, I needed 7-8 mins to do the last few sets. I'll plan on 252.5x5x4 in a few weeks, which will be a PR of sorts.

Lat Pulldown (Wide grip neutral)
235x10x3
Plank
50s x3

Tricep Rope
130x12, 140x12 after warmup - I feel all LTEs, whether DB or EZ Curl, in my pecs, so subbed these today since I didn't want to work/stretch out my pec anymore.

External Rotations
3x12

[Michael Wolf]

Today's lift went as well as I could have hoped for: very solid deadlift work-sets from 2" and light tester pulls from the floor with ZERO hamstring pain, and no irritation of the pec either. Leg press up to 495x6 with no hammy issues. And overall pec feels already slightly better than it did last night. So as good as I could've hoped for.

Deadlift: 2" blocks
455x4, 495x4, 525x4 - 3" belt+straps
Then test pulls from the floor: 315x3, 365x3 with 3ct holds at top DOH

Leg Press
Sets of 6 up to 455 and 495, all good in the hood
Cable Seated Row, 1-Arm
105x10, 110x8x2

Assault Bike
25/50x8 = 70 cals. Upped the intensity one more notch, and completed all 8 intervals. Intensity still only about 75% of normal for 25s intervals, but the higher work:rest ratio was such that today wasn't solely rehab but had a slight conditioning component to it. Only slight, but it's a start.

DB Strict Curls
35x15, 40x12x2
Side PLank
20s x2
Notes: Planks were the only thing all day that irritated my pecs. Only a little, but didn't want to make anything worse, especially for side planks, so skipped the last one.

[Michael Wolf]

Low stress week a week early, to give pecs a rest. Not sure if it's the tendon or the muscle belly - if the latter, it's close to the tendon. But they've felt better each day so far, so it does look like I avoided the worst of it. Doing some rehabby stuff this week and we'll see where I'm at after that.

Monday, 2/3

Press:
215x5, 235x3
255x2, 275x1 @8.5 - wraps only
Notes: Moved a little slow, as things usually do for me on deload or low stress weeks. I'm not into getting pysched up, but I do get mentally "up" for hard work, and on low stress weeks I just don't get as mentally up for it. Also no belt. Still moved OK, just a little slower.

235/255/275 presses on IG

Bench Press
45x10, 95x8x3
Notes: Could "feel" pecs but no pain. Seems like a good initial sign/start. Every one of my pec strains in the past, I had pain even if minor, at 45 and 95 lbs.

Lat Pulldown: Medium neutral grip, strict
180x8, 195x8, 210x8
Plank
40s x3
Notes: Could feel pecs a bit here at the bottom, which hasn't been the case for any of my previous strains. Stayed a little lighter and stricter than usual, just getting a little work in.

No triceps today, will only be doing bis and tris once each this week.

[Michael Wolf]

Took today off training, but will still train Friday/Saturday - so low stress week will include a frequency reduction as well as total volume and intensity. I did a rehab session with the neubie and it was interesting. I don't know enough about it to make any claims other than "I feel better afterwards than I did before," and this applies both to movement as well as sensitivity to palpating the areas which previously were sensitive. It's now about 6 hours later, so it wasn't just a short term effect - the MWOD flossing bands, for example, would make me feel better for about 5-10 minutes but then it was as if I never used them at all afterwards. I can't speak to anything long term, yet, but 6 hours later my pecs still feel better than they did before. So I got that goin for me. Which is nice. #gungagalunga

[Ryan Arnold]

Next step: Total Enlightenment

[Michael Wolf]

Next step: Total Enlightenment

I was hoping for endarkenment: my skin is so white that I could use a little tan. But that might be too big a miracle for even our most modern science. Enlightenment will have to do.

[Ryan Arnold]

You live in Texas. No excuses play like a champion!!