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Thread: Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

  1. #4301
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    Apr 2010
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Press: beltless
    200x5, 225x5 @8, 200x5
    Notes: Three weeks ago, I pressed 225x5 @8 and noted that it was the first time 225x5 felt routine again, instead of hard, since coming back from lockdown. Today felt the same way, except beltless. So another step forward, slowly but surely. In the past it seems I'd be making these kind of noticeable improvements every week, when coming back from a layoff, instead of every 2-3, but I guess I'm just getting old. Still, was good to have 225x5 beltless and wrapless be quite submaximal.

    Power Clean
    95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3
    Barbell Row
    275x5, 305x5
    Deadlift
    455x5
    Noes: PC was easy, right wrist still cranky but a wrap seems to do the trick there. Rows were fine. DL felt oddly heavy and hard so much that I checked the weight when I was done with the set, cause I thought maybe I'd loaded 495 on there by mistake. But no, it just felt heavy and hard today. Video shows it moving OK, though not as fast as I was expecting, but still fairly fast. Just felt crappy and heavy today.

    Chins
    BWx5, +25x5x3

    Tricep Rope
    70x10, 12
    Side Plank
    20s x2

  2. #4302
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    Apr 2010
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    Default Saturday, 8/29

    High Bar Squat - beltless
    135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 325x5, 365x5
    Notes: All good, finally ready, 6 weeks post adductor pull, to get back to some heavy low bar work.

    Bench Press
    405x2 @8.5, 425x1 @9, 305x10
    Notes: Went a little heavier here than planned. The 405 double, combined with the 105 degree heat and doing squats beforehand, sapped a little of my energy so the 425 moved a little slower than I'd have liked. But perfectly happy with it given the circumstances.

    405x2 -> 425x1 -> 305x10 bench press on IG

    Lat Pulldown
    135x10, 155x10x3

    DB Curls
    45x9, 60x9x2
    Ab Wheel Rollouts
    5,6,6 - was meant to be 3x6 but I miscounted the first set.

  3. #4303
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    Apr 2010
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    Default Monday, 8/31

    Did this one a bit early cause I had plans for the day. Despite starting at ~9am, being a light upper body day, and only training 1 hour instead of my usual longer workout, I was soaked by the end. The humidity was at about 80% and it was brutal. Good thing it was a light upper only day.

    Bench Press: 1ct pause to a 3 board
    275x5, 295x5x2
    Notes: After Saturday's 405x2, 425x1, I'm doing a lower stress week here and reintroducing the 4 day split with that easier week.

    Press: Dead stop, strict - beltless
    95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 185x5x2
    Notes: EZPZ. I had been doing 2 benches per week, 1 press, and 1 press assistance lift per week (DB or KB press). Now that I'm on the 4 day split I will be doing actual barbell presses twice a week, though will still be supplemental work one of those two slots, most weeks.

    DB Rows
    75x10, 105x10, 125x10x2
    Notes: Solid. Added weight to the middle and the top sets this week. Because I have loadable DBs and not a whole set of different weights, this workout took an hour instead of probably 40-45 mins. It takes way more time and effort than you'd think to load the DBs for all these diff sets.

    DB Strict Curls
    40x12x2

    Then 13 hours later, I did one set of 65x30 DB bench press while hanging with a friend in from NYC, where he hasn't seen the inside of a gym for 6 months.

  4. #4304
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    Apr 2010
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    Ok, now today's workout. Another seriously muggy day. The temp went from about 88 to 94 over the course of my workout, but the feel temp was 110-115 by the end with the humidity. What's also odd is that I get zero breeze or airflow in the garage even with the door fully open. We did have a decent breeze today, but I get none of it. My 2 fans help some, but the air in the garage is stifling. Anyway.

    Squat: sleeves
    135x8, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5
    405x5 - with belt
    Notes: I had planned to back off and do a second set at 365x5, but the 405 set didn't feel great so I skipped it. It was only 1 rep, but my right knee had a sharp pain reminiscent of the kind of pain that prevented me from squatting for 2+ years in 2017-2019. Even though it was only 1 rep of 1 set of the whole day, it made me a little uneasy so I skipped the backoff.

    405 generally felt kind of heavy and slow. Video shows it moved decently enough, though. Just need to get used to the feel of 400+ again.

    Power Clean
    45x5x2, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3x2
    Notes: First set at 245 sucked, clean it up and second set was much better.

    Sumo DL
    135x5, 185x5x2
    Plank
    45s x2
    Notes: 43 days after the adductor pull, back to reintroducing sumo again. This time with a slightly narrower stance and toe angle, at least at first, to mitigate a bit. We'll see if I keep em there or move em back out a little. Either way, zero pain or discomfort or even indication that anything ever was a problem. Will go 225 next week.

  5. #4305
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    Second half of Week 1 on the 4 day split and could definitely feel the difference today. I have generally gotten used to the 4 day quickly, so nothing to be concerned about, just noticing it.

    Press: 4" belt
    255x1 @7, 275x1 @9 - wraps
    245x2, 200x10
    Notes: The 255x1 was the best set of the bunch. I was mentally ready and executed perfectly. I didn't quite get as good of a start on the 275, so it was a little slower, but still went up with gas in the tank. I did 275x4 for a PR back in Feb, and could've done 275x2 today, so we're not quite back to that yet, but a good strong milestone to hit nonetheless. Though I'm now back close enough to maxes that progress is slowing, I expect the bump up to the 4 day split with slightly increased upper body work, will speed it up or at least mitigate that slowdown a little, for a little longer till I get even closer to old maxes.

    Swiss Bar Bench Press: Medium Neutral Grip
    225x6, 255x6, 275x6
    Notes: I tried wrist wraps here for the first time today, and wuddya know, for a lift whose limiting factor is wrist stability, wrist wraps help!! Doing 275x6 felt much more like productive work than the 245x6 I was doing without the wraps, and more comfortable on the wrists too.

    Chins
    BWx3, +25x3, +45x3,3,5

    Straight Arm Lat Pulldowns
    45x10x3
    DB Curls
    45x10, 60x10x2

    Tricep Rope (Kneeling)
    55x12x2

  6. #4306
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    Safety Bar Squat
    155x8, 245x8, 295x8
    Notes: Going to try to increase squat frequency, after knees tolerated increased frequency during adductor rehab. However since the weights were light in that rehab, I will be going slowly here - always light work and/or a lighter variant, and probably doing 1x some weeks and 2x other weeks at least at first to see how it goes. This was easy though, as it should be. I do miss the leg press as an option here, since it allowed me to get some of that leg work in with very little stress on my back, but I shall have to make do with the tools I have. The stress of course is normally good and productive, but I always have to baby my back a bit as it has been very easily dinged since elementary school (thanks, Wolf's Disease), so having an option that was easier on both knees and back but still allowed me to get some some measurable, productive work to my legs was useful.

    Block Pull:6"
    495x5, 545x1
    Notes: Used my rogue ohio DL bar for the first time, almost feels like cheating between that and the 6" blocks. Both sets were easy, and 545 is the heaviest weight I've pulled (from any height) since I did 585 from the same 6" block height on 2/22, over 6 months ago now. 545 was a routine weight for me to do for a long time, even from the floor, so I want to get back to that status ASAP.

    Ab Wheel
    6,7,6
    Side Planks
    20s x2/side
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 09-04-2020 at 08:24 PM.

  7. #4307
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    Apr 2010
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    Default Monday, 9/7

    Bench Press
    335x5, 365x5 @8, 335x5, 315x5
    Notes: Though I had clearly surpassed the capability to do it again, it was nice to actually do 365x5 and get some redemption for my 365x4 set on June 11th. After 14 weeks away from benching, re-LPing with big jumps and only doing a 3day/week + 1 press slot/day quick ramp up wasn't quite enough. So getting this was nice. I don't remember when I first did 365x5, but it was well over 3 years ago for sure (cause I did 405x5 in Spring, 2017). So I was annoyed when I didn't quickly ramp back up to it, and pleased to have it well behind me again.

    I'm feeling pretty good about upper body progress right now. I could probably max out on bench at 440-445 and press 290 or so, not PRs but heavy enough to always have been legit heavy singles for me, even when I was at my strongest, not something I could just do any day. So I'm pretty happy with that, now that I'm roughly the same amount of time back into training as I was away from it due to injury and the Rona. Another 2-3 months and I should be back to or beyond previous PRs in at least 1 or 2 lifts, maybe all 4. Hell, maybe I can even set a new power clean PR, which at 305 in 2015, is my longest running without one (since I don't train it, only practice it sometimes). Getting a 3 plate power clean without doing it regularly would be pretty cool. We shall see. If I could collect 600/500/725/330/315 on the 5 SS lifts before 2020 is out, I'd consider that a helluva save for the year.

    365x5 bench press on IG

    Press: Strict
    165x8, 175x9, 175x7
    Notes: Supposed to be 8s across, lost count on the first set at 175 so did one less rep the next set.

    Accessories
    Lat Chindowns: 135x9, 160x9x3
    DB Rows: 95x10, 125x10x2
    LTEs: 87x10, 117x10x2
    DB Strict Curls: 40x13x2

  8. #4308
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    High Bar Squat: sleeves
    135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x5 - PR (3"belt), 365x5
    Notes: This is a pseudo PR because it's something I could have done a long time ago, but just never did, so it's not super exciting or anything but still nice to put it in the books. I know I've done 465x1 @7-7.5 high bar as far back as 2015 I believe, and 435x3 at the end of 2019 in routine training, so not breaking any new ground. Just technically haven't done 405x5 high bar before as far as I can recall.

    405x5 high bar squat PR on IG

    Sumo Deadlift
    135x5, 225x5, 275x5x2
    Notes: Using a narrower Ed Coan-esque stance here, all easy and feeling good.

    Plank
    45s x2
    Side Plank
    20s x2/side

  9. #4309
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    Apr 2010
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    Missed Thursday so combined into one long workout yesterday. Thankfully summer's peak brutality has broken here, and it was only 75-80 and not even that humid during my workout, which made this long one much more bearable.

    Press
    215x5, 235x5 @7.5 (belt +wraps), 215x5
    Notes: All pretty solid here. Went beltless and wrapless for the bookend sets but used both for the top set. It moved just a little better than 225x5 did about 5 weeks ago on 8/5, so that's progress, even if not as fast as I'd like this ramp to be going.

    Deadlift: 3" belt, stiff bar
    495x5, 545x1
    Notes: While fairly routine weights for me for 6-7 years now, this is the most I've pulled off the floor in quite a while. When I was pretty strong back right before lockdown, I was coming off a hamstring strain and so had only been pulling from blocks for a while, so while I had done 615x1 from 4 or 6 inches, I had only done 525x3 from the floor. So for a set of 5 and a single, these are the most I've done in quite a while. Both moved decently, though my body clearly was a little surprised to be pulling this from the floor again as I felt it quite a bit last night.

    235x5 press, and 495 & 545x1 deadlift on IG

    Close Grip Bench: 1ct pause
    +125 chains: 225x6, 255x6x2
    Notes: EZPZ.

    Accessories
    Lat Chindown: 160x9, 175x9, 190x9x2
    DB Curls: 65x8x2
    Tricep Straight Bar Pushdowns: 90x12x2
    Ab Wheel: 3 sets of 7
    Notes: Chin-downs continue to challenge because the weight is heavy enough to pull me up slightly, but I can't secure myself any better because I can't reach the bar from the seated position, so can't put something on my lap or anything. Maybe wrapping the chains around my torso would help. Curls are getting close to PR territory, but I'm not 100% sure cause I don't keep close track of it, only in my head. I think 65x10 is the most I've curled, primarily because even my non-strict curls are pretty strict based on what I've seen other people do. I don't heave or use a lot of torso, just a small amount of rotation and action to clear the dumbbell of my hips. But I'm not even sure I did 65x10, I might've only done it for 8 or 9. So I guess I'll have to do 70x8 to be sure.

    Not that it's news, but Tricep straight bar is clearly a much stronger movement than the rope. I tried 90 with the rope the other week and I don't even think it budged. Had to move down to 70. Whereas 90x12 here was fairly challenging but not limit.

  10. #4310
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    Apr 2010
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    7,856

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    starting strength coach development program
    Hit some good bench milestones today that have me feeling good about things. It's been a while now that I've been training again, not merely quickly and easily ramping back up, but hitting these numbers make it feel much more so like I'm really back in my general pre-lockdown form, for the first time since all that went down.

    Bench Press
    415x1, wraps only
    440x1 @9.2, belt+wraps
    315x10 @7.5
    Notes: 440 isn't a PR but it sure is a milestone. I first did it over 3 years ago, but never progressed to the point where 440 wasn't still a significant, serious heavy single, or one I could just do on any day of the week. So I'm glad to be back there. It was a slower rep, but not a maximal one. 315x10 looks much faster than it felt, but reals > feels. 325 is my current 10 rep PR, but based on the relative bar speeds, clearly beating that 10RM is lower hanging fruit than setting a new 1RM will be, so will likely do it sooner. 330 or 335x10 is kind of a PRINO, whereas hitting 485, 495, or hopefully even 500 will be more challenging and a real PR.

    440x1 and 315x10 bench on IG.

    Press: Dead stop, strict
    175x5, 190x5x2
    Notes: None, solid.

    Accessories
    Lat Pulldown, Neutral Grip: 135x12, 160x12x3
    LTEs: 87x10, 117x10, 122x10
    DB Strict Curls: 40x15x2

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