Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[swan]

Seated press indeed. My experience this year has been that it has its own learning curve for balance as you've discovered. It took a few weeks before I really felt comfortable with it. And even so, I hook my toes under a couple plates each for that just-in-case I start to lose it backwards (which hasn't happened recently but did early on).

[Michael Wolf]

Seated press indeed. My experience this year has been that it has its own learning curve for balance as you've discovered. It took a few weeks before I really felt comfortable with it. And even so, I hook my toes under a couple plates each for that just-in-case I start to lose it backwards (which hasn't happened recently but did early on).

Thanks for the tip. I spoke with Clint Case, who has a giant press (I think he's done something like 330) and does seated press a lot as supplemental work, and he said the same thing, so I'm thinking that's the trick. Do you just place the plates on top of your feet first, then roll the bar into position?

[Michael Wolf]

Forgot to log this one cause I barely did anything, but I was able to work up to 225x5 squats on Tuesday. Not the 460 I had planned before the back tweak, but I've had ones where I haven't been able to squat at all for much longer than 1 week, so it was something. We'll see what I can do tomorrow (Friday). 275 or 315 would be nice, but I won't force it.

[Michael Wolf]

Good upper body session today.

Press: Belt+wraps
245x5 @8.5
225x5x2
Notes: Clipped my chin on the first rep of 245, cause I'm trying to avoid too much spinal over-extension due to my back. So didn't get back out of the way enough. It didn't have a big impact, but probably added .5-1 to the RPE. Otherwise all good.

Swiss Bar Bench (Medium Neutral Grip)
275x7, 300x5, 275x7
Notes: These went well. I had worked up to 300x5 in June on the Rogue swiss bar at my erstwhile gym, but when I got my own Titan brand in August, the balance was different and I had to drop back to 245. So getting back up to 300 and adjusting to the new balance of this bar, was nice.

245x5 press and 300x5 swiss bar bench on IG

Chins
BWx5, +25x3, +53x3x2, BWx14
Notes: Backoff set was supposed to be 13, but did an extra rep by mistake. Don't think I've done a set of 15 bodyweight chins since 2014, at a bodyweight of about 25 lbs less than now, so that's cool.

DB Curls
65x9x2
Tricep Rope
80x10x2

[swan]

My power rack has feet that run from front to back, so I lay the plates across those, as far to the front as I can between the front and back uprights and just at the edge of balance where they would tip toward the inside, and stick my toes under. I've been using the hooks for the bar, and I just sit right up close to the bar at the front of the rack with my legs apart to reach under the plates. Hope that describes it well enough. Oh, and if my seated press was actually heavy (max is 162.5x2 so far), I think I'd want the plates actually on my feet instead of just balancing there.

Overall for programming, I mostly treated this like a new exercise with its own LP since it turned out to have such a learning how to do it aspect to it.

[Michael Wolf]

My power rack has feet that run from front to back, so I lay the plates across those, as far to the front as I can between the front and back uprights and just at the edge of balance where they would tip toward the inside, and stick my toes under. I've been using the hooks for the bar, and I just sit right up close to the bar at the front of the rack with my legs apart to reach under the plates. Hope that describes it well enough. Oh, and if my seated press was actually heavy (max is 162.5x2 so far), I think I'd want the plates actually on my feet instead of just balancing there.

Overall for programming, I mostly treated this like a new exercise with its own LP since it turned out to have such a learning how to do it aspect to it.

I think I can picture it but not sure. From what I gather, you need to be in the right spot to take the bar off he hooks on your first try, or else you'll have to take the plates off, scoot up or down on the bench, put the plates back on, then try again - is that right? One of the things I like about the safeties is that you can roll the bar, so if you're not in the exact right spot to unrack from the get go - which is a little tough to gauge - then you have some leeway to roll the bar, rather than having to move yourself.

[Michael Wolf]

Squat
45x8x2, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5
Notes: Wanted 315 but wasn't ready yet. Honestly this whole thing felt worse than Tuesday in some ways, and maybe I shouldn't have gone to 275. Dunno. Guess we'll see.

Block Pull, 8"
135x10x3
Notes: These felt OK. Will try 185 from 6" on Tuesday, I think.

A little disappointed, but can't force it. I thought it was more minor at first than it actually was, and also thought it was getting better faster than it actually is. But that's how it be sometimes. Still grateful it's not one of those absolutely crippling ones, and still better than even some of the medium ones, where it's 4-8 weeks till I could even squat 275 again.

[Michael Wolf]

Felt a little sluggish today on bench, but everything else went fine.

Bench Press
365x3, 385x3 @8 - with wraps
325x5x2
Notes: If bench was poppin today I was going to work up to 455x1, but it wasn't AT ALL, so I stayed with a moderately heavy triple and some backoffs. Not every day pops, it's fine.

Press 1.0
185x6, 205x4x2, 185x6
Notes: EZPZ. These felt about normal, so not sure why bench was sluggish. Maybe press wasn't heavy enough to get to where I'd feel the difference.

Lat Pulldown: Neutral Grip
160x10, 175x10x4
DB Strict Curls
45x12x2
LTEs
107x10, 127x10x2

[Michael Wolf]

Skipped SQ and DL on Tuesday, felt complete rest would serve me better after my 2 attempts to force it last week. And it does already feel better than it did 3-4 days ago, so I'm considering whether to do some light work tomorrow or skip. Haven't decided yet.

Meanwhile today's upper:

Press
275x1 @9, belt+wraps, then 315 unrack + hold for 3-4s
255x2 @7.5, belt
215x10 @9, belt
Notes: Top set continues to give me trouble, submax sets continue to improve. I was halfway thinking I might press 295 today if it was poppin; not that I expected it to for sure, as Monday was a reasonably hard upper day, but I kept it in mind as a possibility. But light headedness started creeping in at 275 - that's why I rated in @9 even though bar speed was faster, one of the rare few things I will override a pure bar speed rating for - and I knew a truly heavy single wasn't a great idea today.

But 255x2 backoff was very solid, and 215x10 puts me at 95.5% of my all time best 10RM.

Close Grip Bench: Plus Chains
225+85 x4, 225+145 x4, 255+145x4, 275+145x4, 225+145x7
Notes: Nothing of great note here. The chains don't all leave the ground here, so the added chain weight doesn't all add into the total weight at the top, but I don't know how else to objectively measure it, and since the amount of chain that I use is equal set to set, makes sense to list the total chain weight. I'm enjoying them.

Lat Chin-Downs: 135x12x3
DB Curls: 65x10x2
Tricep Rope: 70x13x2

[Michael Wolf]

Back today after a week off. The good news is my back is now much better, not quite back to where it was before but pretty close. I don't see it being an impediment to lifting in any case. Doing a bit of a soft re-set, for both mental and physical reasons. So just worked up to a moderate single today in the big 3.

Squat: Sleeves
135x5, 225x5, 275x5
315x3, 365x2, 405x1 - belt

Bench Press
135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 345x2, 365x1
Notes: Left pec up in the corner near my pit was a little wonky, so will have to watch that. Weird after a week off, and when it wasn't giving me problems BEFORE. Hopefully just a today thing.

Deadlift: 4" blocks
135x5, 225x4, 315x3, 365x2, 405x1