DirtyRed Attempts Legitimacy

[DirtyRed]

I'm not saying this is the best log ever. But it is.

+1

I do it for my fans.

All two of you.

Once again, I thought I might actually update within a fucking week. But then I faffed about all weekend, and actually had some shit to do once the week started, so here I am frantically throwing together an update before I get more than a week behind again, AGAIN.

These snatches on Thursday were fairly solid given that they were a mere 5 lbs short of old PR weight. There was a failure simply due to balance failure at the catch, but otherwise rather encouraging. Deadlifts felt stronk.

Thursday 7-5-2018
Snatch: 220 lbs 3x1
Power Snatch: 190 lbs 5x2
Overhead Squats: 195 lbs 3x3
Push Press: 250 lbs 8x1
Deadlifts: 520 lbs 3x1

Squats, being the first reps I've done over 500 lbs in SEVERAL weeks, were a little shaky in the hole for the first couple of reps. The weight was far enough below actual maxes that I still got the reps without undue effort anyway, but the reps after the second felt quite a bit more tight and efficient as I remembered how to function under loads >90%.

Friday 7-6-2018
Clean and Jerk: 300 lbs 3x1
Power Clean: 260 lbs
Squats: 565 lbs 5x1
Bench Press: 295 lbs 5x1
Curls: 100 lbs 5x8

On Monday, there was one particularly lady in the gym. I've seen her in there before, and mentally noted that she generally looked like someone lit Quasimodo on fire and then put it out by beating him with shoes. But, DirtyRed is generous in his magnanimity, and normally wouldn't bother posting about it, if for no other reason than "Hammered Shit" is the average appearance in Bumblefuck, KY. But Monday, that lady had on a shirt that read "Thick Thighs Save Lives."

Public Service Announcement: If your thighs, ass, and/or stomach stop moving five seconds after you do, you are not thick. You are fat. There are a couple of THICC girls in this gym, including one who's about 4'9'' tall and 5'2'' deep, I've seen squatting 170+ lbs WAY to depth, and it's almost enough to make me believe in a kind and loving god. This lady wearing that goddamn shirt was not one of them.

This would be like me wearing a "Cardio Is King" t-shirt. Absolutely unacceptable, transparent frontin' is what it is.

Monday 7-9-2018
Snatch: 215 lbs 10x1
Hang Snatch: 195 lbs 5x2
Bench Press: 290 lbs 8x3
Deadlift: 445 lbs 6x4
Curls: 100 lbs 5x8

These power cleans really pushed the limits of the qualifier "Power."

Tuesday 7-10-2018
Clean and Jerk: 295 lbs 6x1
Power Cleans: 265 lbs 4x2
Squats: 500 lbs 8x3
Front Squats: 335 lbs 3x3
Push Press: 240 lbs 5x3

I had to wake up early on Wednesday in order to drive two hours (three hours counting the time zone skip to eastern time) for a job interview sort of thing that could have just as easily been accomplish via bleeding email. Happily, Wednesday was mostly a light/dynamic effort/faff about accessory day. I have the SAME SHIT tomorrow, only with two interviews. And Thursday is a Heavy Ass Lifting day, and I'm particularly worried the prescribed (read: pulled directly from mine own ass) snatch weights aren't going to move so great after 4+ hours in a car, and not great amounts of sleep. Friday AND Saturday are free, and the coming week is planned to be relatively non-strenuous in order to be fresh for some PH4T PRs the following week, so I might just not do a goddamn thing beyond the Louisville drive, and just push the rest of the week back a day.

To be determined.

Regardless, I note that I am absolutely killing speed bench presses. Last "cycle" (of a completely different set up), there was a bit of speed lost in the final reps of a set of 8 with 175 lbs. Now, I'm banging out 185 lbs so forcefully through every rep that I'm struggling to stay "tight" on the bench, as the bar's momentum is pulling me upwards at the end of the rep. I MIGHT need to start rigging up some bands to give extra resistance at the top of the the rep, allowing me to DRIVE through the entire rep without flying all over the place at the top, like I do with the squats.

Wednesday 7-11-2018 (hehe, seven eleven, hehe)
Speed Squats with bands: 295 lbs 4x8
Speed Bench Press: 185 lbs 4x8
Seated DB Press: 70 lbs 4x6
Dumbbell Row: 75 lbs 4x8
Chin Ups: 5x8

[DirtyRed]

I am going to make a promise to myself, that the next update will come within a goddamn week. Failure to do so will result in a suplexing upon the Field of Honor.

I did Thursday's workout as planned, despite the drag assing to and from Louisville. It went surprisingly well, really. I still failed a couple snatch attempts, simply because I didn't do them well. Which is beginning to remind me of golf. Every once and a while, I actually DO IT RIGHT (or close enough to it) and the result is impressive. Which only pisses me off more, because it's not that I CAN'T do it right, it's that I'm too stupid to do it right more than once in a row.

Regardless, this was three snatch reps at what was a PR two months ago. That sounds like progress.

Thursday 7-12-2018
Snatch: 225 lbs 3x1
Power Snatch: 195 lbs 5x2
Overhead Squats: 195 lbs 3x3
Squats: 575 lbs 5x1
Push Press: 225 lbs 8x1

Friday 7-13-2018
Clean and Jerk: 300 lbs 3x1
Power Cleans: 265 lbs 4x2
Bench Press: 305 lbs 5x1
Deadlift: 530 lbs 3x1
Curls: 100 lbs 5x8

Some weeks ago (seriously probably about a month ago), I noticed some Adipowers sitting by one of the platforms when I showed up. They were still there when I was done. Now, there are MAYBE a half dozen people I've seen in this gym with weightlifting shoes, and I know one guy has Do-Wins, one guy has Reebok, and another guy has a different color pair of Adipowers, so I was PRETTY sure who these belonged to. So I dropped them off at the front desk. WEEKS LATER, they were still there on the Claim Your Shit shelf, AND it turns out I can fit my foot in them, AND the shoes I got on New Years are ALREADY beginning to fall apart, so I said there was to be no eBaying of these shoes and if they were still there in a week, I'd assume they were left by an out of towner and thus abandoned.

Naturally, they were claimed within a week. Turns out that they were that guy's shoes, he just had so many pairs that he didn't notice them missing, and only recognized them because one of the laces was red and the other was blue. So he checked at his house and his pair weren't there, so he figured those shoes were his. I blame this entire situation on that guy claiming his property. Fuck that guy.

Anyway, I found a pair of Adipowers in the same size (though sadly not red) for $140 dollars. Provided nothing goes tragically wrong with shipping or sizing, I'll start using those after Max Week. And maybe they'll last more than half a year.

Monday 7-15-2018
Snatch: 220 lbs 3x1
Hang Snatch: 195 lbs 4x2
Squat: 505 lbs 5x3
Bench Press: 295 lbs 5x3

Tuesday 7-16-2018
Clean and Jerk: 295 lbs 3x1
Power Cleans: 265 lbs 4x2
Front Squat: 335 lbs 3x3
Push Press: 245 lbs 3x3
Deadlifts: 455 lbs 5x3

Wednesday 7-17-2018
Speed Squats (w/bands): 295 lbs 4x8
Speed Bench: 185 lbs 4x8
Seated DB Press: 70 lbs 4x8
Chin Ups: 5x8
DB Row: 75 lbs 4x8

[DirtyRed]

Thursday 7-19-2018
Snatch: 225 lbs single
Clean and Jerk: 305 lbs single
Dips: 5x10
Curls: 100 lbs 5x8

Friday 7-20-2018
Squat: 575 lbs single
Bench: 305 lbs single
Deadlift: 530 lbs single
Seated DB Press: 65 lbs 4x8
DB Row: 70 lbs 4x8

Now on to (Hopefully) PR Week.

[DirtyRed]

The optimistically dubbed PR Week is off to a fine start. I managed to snatch 235 lbs (see below) for a 10 lbs PR, and clean and jerk 315 (FINALLY, also below) for another 10 lbs PR. I then tried to clean and jerk 325 lbs, since 315 lbs went real well. THAT was rather optimistic. I pull it all right, but there's no fucking prayer to get it into the rack position without giving myself another wrist joint, because I'm slow to get under the bar after pulling it, because I lack the equipment to properly do hang cleans and practice that exact fucking thing.

No one has suffered like DirtyRed, this he knows.

Monday 7-22-2018
Snatch: 235 lbs PR
Squat: 405 lbs 3x5
Curls: 100 lbs 5x8

Tuesday 7-24-2018
Clean and Jerk: 315 lbs PR
Bench Press: 245 lbs 3x5
Dips: 3x8

[DirtyRed]

PR week wasn't QUITE as PR-ful with the powerlifts (that don't feature a lot of power) that it was with the weightlifts (that don't feature a lot of weight). I was kind of expecting that really, and the goal was to at least tie lifetime PRs at a less fat bodyweight. Which I totally did for the squat and deadlift. The 600 lbs squat felt good enough that I gave 610 a crack afterwards, but just barely failed it, running out of steam halfway up. That was encouraging, I should be able to hit at least that after another 8 weeks or so. I got me a 565 lbs deadlift, and could barely budge 575 lbs. I PARTLY blame the less than ideal, mild-knurling, shiny-finished bars I'm working with, but I can clearly feel weight shifting around right off the floor, so I'm not doing them entirely perfectly either.

Also, I "caddied" for a guy in the US Senior Amateur qualifier on Friday. The USGA has kind of taken the Amish stick out of their fucking asses, and realized that if you want a bunch of 50+ year old amateurs to get done with a round of golf within 7 hours, you had better let them use carts and rangefinders. That is where the USGA's intelligence ran out. The OLD rules about carts and caddies said that caddies could not ride on the cart ever, for whatever psychotic reason. The NEW rules say that the caddie may ride in the cart, OR the player may ride in the cart, but they may not ride in the cart simultaneously. The USGA peon starting us off at the 1st tee and explaining that rule to us even mocked it, saying that they SURELY had some logic behind it that they didn't deign to share with him.

This led to me mostly jogging around behind (or possibly down the fairway to spot tee shots) the cart most of the day, and this was one of those fucking awful golf courses that was more of a real estate development that they then half assedly put a golf course in the middle of, meaning there was more distance between the holes than there was ON the fucking holes. I didn't FEEL any tired or sore or anything doing deadlifts the next day, but surely some mild cardio sandbagged my max by 10, 20% minimum. SURELY.

Bench press was 335 lbs, touch'n'go, which was 10 lbs over a lifetime PR, though that was paused in a meet. It would be REALLY neat if I could make that 350 lbs after another cycle. But I'd settle for 345 so I could run around saying that my bench press is BOUT TREE FIDDY and annoying people who didn't think the South Park reference was funny 10+ years ago when it was actually a meme.

Wednesday 7-25-2018
Squat: 600 lbs
Chin Ups: 3x10
DB Rows: 65 lbs 4x6

Thursday 7-26-2018
Bench Press: 335 lbs
Dips: 4x8
Seated DB Press: 60 lbs 4x8

I also messed around with some Baker Style DB preacher curls and snatch grip deadlifts, in anticipation of doing them (PARTICULARLY the snatch grip deadlifts) in a more structured format in the near future. Trying to ballpark some useful but not crippling working weights.

Saturday 7-28-2018
Deadlift: 565 lbs
Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 275 lbs 3x3 (could probably go heavier, might consider straps for the benefit of my fucking thumbs)
DB Preacher Curl: 30 lbs 4x8

[DirtyRed]

Well, back to doing a shitload of volume. I was actually feeling pretty good and enjoying life and waking up all fresh and happy after only 8 hours of sleep after tapering back the volume into PR week. Three days of All of the volume and I sleep for 10 hours and wake up weary and pissed, I haven't been not hungry in 48 hours, and I hate everything that walked or crawled at one point or another. Though it'll probably get better/less awful from here. I hadn't done sets of 8 in 5-6 weeks, really, so I probably lost some of that conditioning. A week of that shit and I'll be back in the swing of things again. I hope.

Monday 7-30-2018
Snatch: 195 lbs 5x3
Squats: 420 lbs 5x8
Bench Press: 250 lbs 8x5
Curls: 100 lbs 5x10

Tuesday was the Day of the Decline Dumbass. First, a guy on the decline bench was somehow managing to arch on it, shortening the already short ROM even further, and STILL only got about halfway down to his chest. Next up was some idiot Team Decline Benching with his buddy, all thumbless and shit. The worst part is that I'm sure everyone would have thought I'M the asshole if I fell over laughing were he to drop the bar on himself.

Also, a fellow was using the trap bar thingy for farmer's walks. Which isn't too unusual, and the sort of shit you do when you don't have actual farmer handles (though I'm pretty sure we have dumbbells weighing well more than half of what he had loaded up). His decision to use straps for this baffled me. Maybe he was trying to strengthen his walkin' muscles, and didn't want his grip to limit him?

Tuesday 7-31-2018
Clean and Jerk: 270 lbs 6x2
Squat: 450 lbs 5x5
Standing Press: 165 lbs 4x6
Deadlift: 425 lbs 3x5

Speaking of straps, fuck'em. I think I spent more time trying to finagle them onto the fucking bar than I did actually pulling some snatch grip deadlifts. Once the straps where actually in place, however, the weight was rather easy. I'll probably do them heavier next time.

Wednesday 8-1-2018
Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 315 lbs 7x4
Front Squats: 315 lbs 3x5
Seated DB Press: 60 lbs 4x8
Chin Ups: 5x8

[DavidCC]

The worst part is that I'm sure everyone would have thought I'M the asshole if I fell over laughing were he to drop the bar on himself.

Nobody is misunderstood the way DR is misunderstood.

[DirtyRed]

These Adipowers really feel like they're making a difference with regards to things like stability at the bottom of a snatch catch or overhead squat and the like.

Thursday 8-2-2018
Snatch: 210 lbs 5x2
Overhead Squat: 205 lbs 3x3
Deadlifts: 480 lbs 5x3
Roman Chair Sit Ups: 10 lbs added 5x10

Friday 8-3-2018
Clean and Jerk: 285 lbs 5x1
Squat: 450 lbs lbs 8x5
Bench Press: 235 lbs 5x8
DB Preacher Curls: 30 lbs 5x8

Monday 8-6-2018
Snatch: 200 lbs 5x3
Bench Press: 270 lbs 5x5
Deadlift: 425 lbs 6x4
Dips: 10 lbs added 5x10

Now, I pulled something in the left side of my lower back (my best guess is a QL) doing those deadlifts on Monday, which I felt after the forth or fifth set. I still managed to finish everything without much problems, but on Tuesday, it was feeling considerably worse. I TRIED to work through clean and jerks, but that was only making it worse with every set, so we all just had to see DR bitch out after three sets. Hindsight being 20/20, yanking upon my back muscles as hard as possible might not have been the smartest way to recover a strained back muscle. I then tried to warm up some squats, but it was aching more for every plate I put on the bar, so I just stopped and did some upper body bullshit. This is going to require taking it easy the rest of the week (I might try some actual squats and pulls on Friday, depending on how it's feeling), and I SHOULD be pretty much 100% come next week, whence upon I'll just redo everything I was supposed to do this week, having, of course, learned exactly nothing from the experience.

Tuesday 8-7-2018
Clean and Jerks: 275 lbs 3x2
Squats: Like, three warm up sets
Seated DB Press: 60 lbs 5x8
DB Preacher Curl: 35 lbs 5x8

Back isn't giving me any problems bench pressing, so I did some of that. Using a bench for support took enough off my back that I could do SOME sort of pulling bullshit without issue.

Wednesday: 8-8-2018
Close Grip Bench Press: 205 lbs 5x8
DB Bench Press: 80 lbs 4x8
Chin Ups: 5x8
DB Row: 70 lbs 5x8

[DirtyRed]

The end of last week wrapped up with some more bench press and ancillary bullshit. Whatever I pulled was feeling pretty good on Friday, so I did me some mild power snatches and some Barely Above A Warmup squats. It was still SLIGHTLY stiff, but didn't get any worse and is feeling 100% now.

I also got a feel for doing some glute/ham raises, as I might look to incorporate them in the future to add more pull related volume without beating up my back more than necessary.

Thursday 8-9-2018
Glute/Ham Raises: 5x8
Seated DB Press: 60 lbs 5x8
DB Preacher Curls: 35 lbs 5x8

Friday 8-10-2018
Power Snatch: 185 lbs 5x2
Bench Press: 285 lbs
Squats: 405 lbs 3x5

[DirtyRed]

Welp, I was feeling all better Monday, so there was nothing left to do but all the shit that caused the problems in the first place. Because surely something different would result. Surely.

Monday 8-12-2018
Snatch: 200 lbs 5x2
Bench Press: 235 lbs 5x8
Deadlifts: 450 lbs 6x4
Dips: 5x10 10 lbs added

After squats, my freaking quadriceps kept cramping while push pressing, leading me to hobble-walk to the water fountain and then to a foam roller to try to loosen up the fucking thing. Managed to work through it.

Tuesday 8-14-2018
Clean and Jerk: 275 lbs 6x2
Squats: 420 lbs 5x8
Push Press: 235 lbs 5x3
Curls: 100 lbs 5x10

I am going to have to find a time to do Snatch Grip Deadlifts that isn't following a bunch of Regular Grip Deadlifts, not the day before actually trying to snatch, and CERTAINLY not following a bunch of Regular Grip Deadlifts a day before trying to snatch. Jeeping fuck.

Wednesday 8-15-2018
Regular Grip Deadlifts: 470 lbs 8x3
Close Grip Bench: 215 lbs 4x8
Front Squats: 315 lbs 3x5
Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 365 lbs 5x3

Snatches on Thursday didn't feel like they had a lot of SPEED and POWER and other things that really help in making snatches go. Did what I wanted to, but some reps were a bit sloppy.

Also got to see a guy doing Straight Legged, Round Back Deadlifts. So that was a treat.

Thursday 8-16-2018
Snatch: 215 lbs 5x2
Overhead Squats: 205 lbs 3x3
Squats: 495 lbs 8x3
DB Preacher Curls: 35 lbs 5x8

Friday 8-17-2018
Clean and Jerk: 290 lbs 7x1
Hang Snatches: 185 lbs 6x2
Bench Press: 285 lbs 8x3
Deadlifts: 425 lbs 4x6
Roman Chair Sit Ups: 5x10 10 lbs added