Finding Out that the Iron Never Lies

[idlehands]

It is at that- although not nearly as beautiful as 495x5x5.

Feb 10, 2016

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 330 lbs-3,3,3,3,3,3 RPE 9.5

Sumo Deadlift @ 526 lbs-1 PR. Small 1 lb pr. RPE 9.5. A little grindy but not terrible.
Sumo Deadlifts @ 426 lbs-4,4,4,4 PR Small 1 lb pr. RPE 9.

So after my 3rd set of deadlifts, gym employee tells me I'll need to stop dropping weights because I'm going to come through the floor (weightlifting area is on 2nd floor which makes no sense). This has happened a few times before to me, usually with this employee. I tell him I'm not dropping the weights and I'm not sure how gingerly I can put down weights as I point to bar loaded to 426 lbs. Gym employee guy is all of 150 lbs and I've never seen him lift at all. He then says, "Well, you might have to take some off." I am super pissed at this point and I just glare at gym guy as he walks off. I have been a member of this gym for 10+ years and spend around $100/month on membership fees, and when I had 2 kids doing tennis there for several years I was spending about double that amount per month. It's ridiculous that weight area is on 2nd floor and absolutely ludicrous that they want deadlifts returned to the ground so slowly that it makes no noise. If I wanted to lift at Planet Fitness, I would have joined there. I bet I am going to get kicked out of the gym at some point. The owners spend no money at all on barbell lifting and want the weightlifting area to be silent while they blast the zumba music so loud it downs out all other sound. Unfortunately there's not a lot of great options for me around here. I will probably try Shawn Frankl's gym, which is close by and has good equipment, but doesn't have any showers or real locker rooms so I'll have to lift after work instead of at lunchtime. Sorry for the rant, but I'm very frustrated with these pseudo-gyms that don't really want anytime getting really strong.


Oh- I had to skip chins due to time constraints and generally being pissed off.

Situations like this we have a name for it. What would dan do. Guy at my gym is a savage, who gives 0 fucks. Now when we go an try to push the prowler on a field, even if there is a trainer there with a client who says no. We just ignore. They say "you can't be here" We just be there. People don't like confrontations. Like that scene from fight club. Just be alpha bro! Ignore.

[bustermonkey2]

Feb 16, 2016

My legs felt pretty stiff from a few days ago, but my right arm seemed ok.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 335 lbs-3,3,3,3,3,3 RPE 9.75 My right forearm was pretty sore, but nothing like a few days ago.

Sumo deadlift @ 486 lbs-1
Sumo deadlift @ 536 lbs-1 PR. This is a 10 lb sumo pr and a 1 lb overall deadlift pr. RPE 9.75 but clearly not a limit deadlift. It's clear to me that sumo is the key to continued progress for me on deadlift. My stance is crazy narrow for sumo- my feet are about shoulder width apart with my feet around 45% pointing out but it seems to help me get into better position. I skipped backoffs today because I was starting to run out of time, and I am feeling a bit run down this week due to a hectic schedule and lack of sleep.

Press @ 175 lbs-5
Press @ 180 lbs-5
Out of time so I left.

[bustermonkey2]

February 18, 2016

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 345 lbs-2,2,2,2,2,2,2 RPE 9.5

Squats @ 455 lbs-2,2 RPE 9.5
Squats @ 470 lbs-2 PR RPE 9.5 Not too bad. I had to skip last set because I was starting to run short on time.

Chins w/ 45 lbs-5,5 Out of time.

[bustermonkey2]

February 25, 2016
Bodywt 230 lbs- I was on vacation this past week and no lifting but lots of eating. I'll do some reduced volume workouts just to make sure that DOMS isn't crippling before returning to regular programming.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 315 lbs-5,5,5 RPE 9. Fine.

Squats @ 405 lbs-5,5,5 RPE 9.

Chins-15, 10

[bustermonkey2]

March 1, 2016
Bodywt 227 lbs

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 320 lbs-5,5,5,5,5 RPE 9.5

Squats @ 410 lbs-5,5,5,5,5 RPE 9.75 and exhausted. I felt pretty good until 4th set then really ran out of steam. The last set was real tough.

Skipped chins due to exhaustion.

[bustermonkey2]

March 2, 2016

Generally I wait a least a day after squats before doing deadlifts. Unfortunately, I've missed doing my regular deadlift programming for several weeks already due to vacation and work so I decided to man up and get them done. I figured I'd drop the weight a bit to account for potential detraining and under-recovery from squats yesterday.

Sumo Deadlift @ 495 lbs-1 RPE 9.5
Sumo deadlift @ 405 lbs-4,4 Not too bad at all
Sumo deadlift @ 415 lbs-4 Still not too bad, except a burst blood vessel on right index finger which makes it a bit tender.
Sumo deadlifts @ 425 lbs-4 RPE 9-9.5 These were still pretty quick but form was getting a bit messy. However, that may have been in part due to sore finger.

Press @ 175 lbs-5
Press @ 180 lbs-5,5 RPE 9.25 Not that bad but I was pretty lightheaded on some of these sets by the end. I've never been good at figuring out when to breathe between reps on press.

[bustermonkey2]

March 4, 2016

Still some DOMS in shoulders, legs and back from earlier this week but decided to get it done anyway since I really want to have the weekend free.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 345 lbs-2,2,2,2
Bench w/ wraps, 1st rep paused @ 350 lbs-1? Wanted 2, 1 Oh Crap, 1 Nope. RPE 9.75 I would guess I just wasn't recovered enough as it should have been very feasible to knock out some doubles at 350. My shoulders at this point were pretty sore too.

Squats @ 455 lbs-2,2 Legs were getting pretty sore after 2nd set so I decided on just one set w/ wraps.
Squats w/ wraps @ 475 lbs-2 RPE 9.75 Legs were just wiped out.

Chins-12,10,7

This wasn't a great session but I figure I was just under-recovered from earlier this week.

[bustermonkey2]

March 7, 2016- Left quad injury

Bodywt 227 lbs

I decided to cut my sets to 4 instead of 5 because my workouts have been getting too long so I'm totally smoked by the end.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 325 lbs-5,5,5,5 RPE 9.75

Squats @ 415 lbs-5,5, 2, 1. First 2 sets were uneventful. On the 2nd rep of 3rd set i felt a weird pulling in my left quad, just above the knee on the inside. It didn't really hurt but it felt odd enough that I racked weight and felt my the area on my leg. It felt kind of stiff and numb but didn't really hurt so I unracked weight to try to finish out the set. Although I was able to squat it up, there was a bit of pain along with an additional pulling sensation. I called it quits at that point. A couple of hours later, there is some aching pain in my leg but it's not unbearable, although it hurts pretty good if there's any type of knee bend and pushing as as on stairs, off curbs etc. I would guess I've got a relatively mild muscle tear. I hope I can take a few days off and then rehab it in short order as I'm planning on competing on April 16th. This really sucks as there was no forewarning and I was fully warmed up when it happened.

[idlehands]

March 7, 2016- Left quad injury

Bodywt 227 lbs

I decided to cut my sets to 4 instead of 5 because my workouts have been getting too long so I'm totally smoked by the end.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 325 lbs-5,5,5,5 RPE 9.75

Squats @ 415 lbs-5,5, 2, 1. First 2 sets were uneventful. On the 2nd rep of 3rd set i felt a weird pulling in my left quad, just above the knee on the inside. It didn't really hurt but it felt odd enough that I racked weight and felt my the area on my leg. It felt kind of stiff and numb but didn't really hurt so I unracked weight to try to finish out the set. Although I was able to squat it up, there was a bit of pain along with an additional pulling sensation. I called it quits at that point. A couple of hours later, there is some aching pain in my leg but it's not unbearable, although it hurts pretty good if there's any type of knee bend and pushing as as on stairs, off curbs etc. I would guess I've got a relatively mild muscle tear. I hope I can take a few days off and then rehab it in short order as I'm planning on competing on April 16th. This really sucks as there was no forewarning and I was fully warmed up when it happened.

Good luck man ! Similar thing happened to a friend this weekend in bench. Heal fast and well

[bustermonkey2]

Thanks! As of 2 days later, there is still some pain and stiffness in my quad but it's definitely getting better and I am hopeful to be back squatting real weights next week.

March 9, 2016

Light squats due to minor muscle tear @ 45 lbs-5, @ 135 lbs-5, @ 225 lbs-5 RPE 6 Felt pretty good although a bit of pain at 225 lbs so I stopped there. Clearly a very minor tear.

Bench, 1st rep paused @ 335 lbs-3,3
Bench, 1st rep paused @ 340 lbs-3,3 RPE 9.75 on last set, 3rd set was a 9.5

Press @ 185 lbs-3
Press @ 205 lbs-1,0,1 Kind of disappointing as 2 reps would have been doable for sets across a few months ago. However, now I've cut back on press in favor of more benching, so it's to be expected.

Chins w/ 45 lbs-5,5

I am rethinking my current Texas method on squat programming. I'm not sure I'm fully recovered to squat heavy 2 times in a 3 day period and I'm wondering if that lead to the muscle tear. I'm also getting some elbow tendonitis again, which was largely held at bay until I switched to Texas method. I think I will revert back to alternating squats and deadlifts every workout and do 5 rep sets on 1 squat workout alternating with 2 rep squat sets on the other. I will keep bench 3 days a week though because I don't think I'm overworking it yet.