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Thread: Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

  1. #4251
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    Apr 2010
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    BACK AT THE GYM TODAY!!

    Squat
    135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x5, 345x5
    Notes: Was so excited to be back at the gym that I forgot my knee sleeves. And it turns out that many of the gym's good power bars were people's personal bars, so in addition to my own being at home, there was only 1 unlocked good power bar I saw out on the floor and it was being used. So I used a really spinny, whippy, 20kg oly bar with no center knurling. I guess that makes it 404, huh. But anyway, despite all that it felt awesome to be back, like getting a bit of humanity back.

    405x5 squat on IG

    Press
    95x5, 135x5, 175x5, 195x5, 215x5, 195x5
    Notes: 215 moved better than 205 last week so that was encouraging.

    Deadlift
    435x3, 495x1
    Notes: 435 was easy and uneventful. 495 was easy too, but dammit if I didn't get a little ding in my left low back again here - it happened more up towards the top/lockout, which I only remember happening a couple times ever before, all last year during that spring period when I jacked my back up for the better part of the calendar year. It doesn't feel nearly as bad but I've been burned too many times to count by thinking something was minor that ended up knocking me out for a while, so I'll just keep my big mouth shut and wait and see how this plays out.

    Lat Pulldown
    : Neutral Grip
    3x8 @ 120, 150, 165 - all warmup weights but haven't done chins or lat pulls in like 9 weeks so really just easing back in here.

  2. #4252
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    Bench Press
    315x5, 335x5, 365x1, 315x5
    Notes: 335 moved a little slow on the last rep, and 365 felt so heavy in my hands. It sucks to have built up to the cusp of a lifetime goal of 500 bench, and have to rebuild all over from down here again. BUT it's better than not being able to rebuild at all.

    Power Clean (KG)
    40x3, 60x3, 80x3, 90x2, 100x2, 110x2, 115x2
    Barbell Row
    295x5, 315x5
    Notes: Really pleasantly surprised with how well cleans are going. Usually after time away from them, they're rusty for a while but these have felt reasonably good, much better than the usual first two times back. Once you add into consideration that this is probably the longest I've ever been away from them, it's even stranger but also an even more pleasant surprise.

    100, 110, 115 power clean doubles on IG

    DB Curls
    40x10, 50x8 - ezpz

    Gym was only about half as busy as it was Monday in the same time slot, so maybe there was just a bit of a pent up surge. Monday had about 10-12 there I think, still under capacity, which is currently 20, but today was really quiet. I think about 5 people were there for most of the time today. The place is around 10,000 sq ft I'd guess, with 25-30 ft ceilings, so even 20 still feels like plenty of room. But 5 feels kinda empty in such a big space.

  3. #4253
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    Apr 2010
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    Starting to feel my stride again, both as a human being and in the gym. Just going there and being able to socialize a little helps a ton, getting a haircut yesterday has me feeling much better physically (I was way into the terrible zone where it was long enough to constantly get into my ears and on my neck, but not yet long enough to tie up or brush back). My dog park opened back up. Even these small steps of normalcy help a ton - they are long overdue, but I am grateful for them nonetheless.

    Press
    200x5, 225x5 @8.5, 200x5
    Notes: Belt for 225 only. It was a little slow but definitely not max. I figured after so much time off, I'd already have had to go down to 5 lb jumps and wouldn't hit 225 for another few workouts so having gone 205>215>225 over the last 3 press workouts on LP has been a great bonus.

    Sumo DL
    365x5, 405x5
    Notes: Easy, still getting comfortable with these and ironing out technique details. And, I think for the first time ever, my back tweak Monday acted like everyone else's tweaks do instead of mine, so I was able to train both Weds and Fri. I really do think this is the first time that's ever happened, not for lack of trying. It was a little cranky on both Tues and Thurs, but I didn't have to change a single set, rep, or loading scheme because of it. So this is what it's like to be a normal person. Nice!

    225x5 Press & 405x5 Sumo DL on Insta

    Leg Press
    135x5, 335x5, 435x5
    Dumbbell Bench
    55x8, 80x8, 90x8
    Notes: All easy, just doing a few sets to re-adjust my body to these before doing any actual work sets.

    DB LTEs
    40x8x2
    Plank
    30s x2
    DB Curls
    40x8x2
    Notes: EZPZ here too. Did these with 1 minute between movements.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 05-22-2020 at 08:18 PM.

  4. #4254
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    Squat: Sleeves for all, belt starting at 375
    135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 375x5, 425x5 @7.5, 365x5
    Notes: 425 is getting challenging, but still well within my capacity. I'm reasonably happy with this all things considered. I did some singles up over 500 during my ill-fated meet prep in the winter, but don't think I've actually done a set of 5 this heavy for exactly 3 years, since Memorial Day Weekend, 2017, during a short-lived attempt to resume squatting after what was then about 5-6 months off it. I've mostly just done heavier triples and singles but my knees are tolerating some fives now, so I'm working em again, carefully.

    Bench Press: Wraps for 345 only
    135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 345x5 @8.5, 285x8
    Notes: Top set is definitely slowing down but considering I hadn't actually benched since late January, that's not too surprising. It was just too much time off to expect to ramp back up to 405x5 territory here. If I can get to 365x5 on a basic LP style, I'll take it and then go from there.

    Deadlift
    405x5, 435x5
    Notes: EZPZ.

    345x5 bench and 435x5 DL on IG

    Lat Pulldown - MAG grip
    150x10, 180x10x2 - these were harder than expected. I forgot how that MAG handle increases the ROM and makes em harder.

    DB Curls
    45x10, 50x10
    Plank
    35s x2
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 05-25-2020 at 04:21 PM.

  5. #4255
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    Press: 4" belt, wraps for 230+ only
    210x5, 230x5 @9, 242.5x1 @8, 185x10
    Notes: Definitely slowing down a little as it gets heavier, but still able to put on another 5# on press LP without hitting the wall. Adjusted programming slightly, just for the press for now, based on past re-LP experiences over the last few years.

    Power Clean
    50x3, 70x3, 90x2, 102.5x1, 112.5x1, 120x1, 125x1 (counting the bar as 45 and the collars, this is actually ~126 but whatever).
    Then 100x2x2 backoffs
    Notes: 125 was a little bit of a split but not bad, and I'm just so pleasantly surprised at how well these are coming back after both such a long time off lifting for covid, and such a long time off doing power cleans regularly because of a mixture of injuries and priorities.

    275 power clean + 242.5 Press on IG

    Barbell Row
    316x5x2 - yes it was actually 316. Did these after the heaviest clean, before the back-off sets.

    DB Bench
    70x10, 90x10, 100x10
    Notes: Added a little bit of weight and volume here, but still well below pre-lockdown on both.

    DB LTEs
    40x10, 45x10
    Ab Wheel
    2 sets of 5 - soreness incoming, I'm sure. These always suck the first 2 days after doing them for the first time in a while.

  6. #4256
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    Apr 2010
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    Bench Press
    325x5, 352.5x5 @8.5
    280x8 - close grip, first and last paused
    Notes:Pretty happy that I did the 352.5 set at roughly the same difficulty as 345 on Monday, despite continuing to ramp both volume and intensity this week.

    Sumo DL
    435x3, 465x3
    Notes: Got some coaching in these by my gym's manager, Maliek, who's an all time top 3 powerlifter in his weight class. They're still not too hard, because they're sub max, but they feel so unnatural to me, so I've been struggling a bit to find a good groove. I have some specific stuff to work on now.

    465x3 Sumo DL on IG

    Not sure if I mentioned it, but in case anyone is wondering why I'm doing sumos: It's something I've been considering for a few years but never had the patience or felt it was the right time to implement and take the necessary time to build them up. But one of the main reasons is because I am well past/into the stage where I need more pulling than just a set or two once a week to drive progress. But no matter how careful I try to be, doing conventional almost always leads to a back tweak that sets me back weeks, or often as not, months. Both technique and fatigue management cannot explain this, and none of the many other coaches, doctors, physical therapists, etc....have been able to explain it either. So I just have to accept it, and since I can't afford to continue missing so much training time, I felt that doing some of my pulls sumo could potentially reduce the frequency of the tweaks because they generally do not stress the low back or put as much work on it. That's the very reason most people should WANT to use conventional, at least for novice and a chunk of intermediate, and of the thousands of people I've coached, I can't think of a single other who's had this issue. So I'm embracing my unique snowflakeness in this regard.

    I've been lifting seriously for well over a decade, I've pulled over 700 lbs. I'm pretty comfortable saying I've earned the right to have my own opinion and try some new things here.

    Leg Press
    425x6, 445x6
    Notes: Added a second 'work' set today, just easing up volume and intensity here, still well below threshold.

    Lat Pulldown (neutral)
    180x8, 195x8x2 - adding a bit of weight.

    Strict DB Curls
    35x12x2

    Abs are predictably still quite sore from wheel rollouts on Weds, so no ab work today.

  7. #4257
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    Apr 2010
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    Moving to an off-season version of the 4 day split, now that I've ramped up decently from the layoff. Upper Mon/Thurs, lower (and conditioning) Tues/Fri. Haven't done conditioning in forever so that'll be fun, I'm sure.

    Press
    225x2, 245x2x2 @8.5
    175x10
    Notes: Press was a little slower than I'd hoped for, but not bad, and I didn't put on wraps today either which usually does help a bit at heavier loads. So not great, not bad. I'll take it.

    Swiss Bar Bench - Medium Neutral Grip
    245x7, 265x7, 275x7
    Notes: 275 was actually quite challenging due to the logistics of the bar and grip, even though 275x7 regular bench is a cakewalk. Which is exactly what I wanted - a self limiting bench option that's sufficiently different from the straight bar so as to stress my pec and shoulder less than regular bench does, especially coming off that late January pec strain that robbed my chance to hit 500.

    Chins
    BWx3x2
    Lat Pulldown (MAG handle)
    180x10x3

    DB Curls
    50x10x2
    Plank
    40s xs

  8. #4258
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    Tuesday, 6/2

    High Bar Squat
    135x5, 225x5, 295x5, 335x5, 365x5, 315x5
    Notes: Pretty solid, no issues.

    Sumo DL
    455x3, 495x3
    And a bunch of position work off a box at 135 and 225, which is way harder than you'd think it would be.
    Notes: Technically 495x3 is a sumo PR but...nahhhhh. I don't know what weight exactly should start qualifying as a legit PR, but it's not 495. Before a few weeks ago, the most I'd done was 455x1 just in March, and I think 405 before that. Hard to categorize, there's no real principled answer. Maybe 600.
    Still working on positioning. Maliek is trying to get me to where I can have my hips as low as possible without having them "scoot up" before the weight bites, which is cool cause it's so similar to the way we use the SS model to evaluate conventional DLs. Probably because of my longstanding conventional background, I can currently lift best from a slightly higher position that more closely mimics my conventional. Our goal is to get that down lower over time, but not at the expense of having the hip-shoot-up thing you see so often.

    I'm enjoying the sumo thing more than I expected, probably because I'm finding it a technical/analytical challenge similar to other lifts.

    365x5 squat and 495x3 sumo DL on IG

    Conditioning
    Assault Bike: 20/40 x6 - 40 cals
    Notes: First conditioning in 3.5 months or so, so just easing in. Not too hard.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 06-03-2020 at 10:53 AM.

  9. #4259
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    Thursday, 6/4

    Bench Press
    135x8, 225x5, 295x5, 335x5, 360x5 @9, 315x5
    Notes: 360 was tough but not max. I wanted to get back to 365x5 on LP style, so it looks like I'll do that next week - technically I've switched off a novice-like LP, but it's still linear every time I bench, just only benching once a week right now.

    Dumbbell Standing Press
    65x10x3
    Notes: Felt the burn but not hard.

    Dumbbell Rows
    85x10, 105x10x2 - EZPZ

    Finishing Accessories - 1 min between each
    DB Strict Curls
    35x12x2
    Ab Wheel Rollouts
    2x5
    DB LTEs
    45x10, 50x10

  10. #4260
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    Apr 2010
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    starting strength coach development program
    Power Clean
    Worked up to a single at ~131kg = ~289 lbs.
    1" Deficit Deadlift
    423x5
    Deadlift
    443x5
    Notes: Not my best clean day. I was hoping they'd be snappy and had a thought in the back of my head about going for a PR, but they weren't so I stopped here. Deficit pulls are so useful but they always seem to bother my back. I hadn't tried one in years but put one set in today, and naturally, they bugged my back. Hopefully nothing more than a brief annoyance that won't effect upcoming training.

    Leg Press
    445x6, 495x6x2
    Notes: EZPZ

    Assault Bike
    20/40 x8 = 62 calories
    Notes: Still not pushing nearly as hard as I was before, but am ramping this up more quickly than I have in the past because I'm actually motivated to be in half decent basic condition again for the first time in a while. Usually I ramp this leisurely over 4-6 weeks, but I plan to be going pretty hard by week after next.

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