bean counter's log

[bean counter]

Wednesday 29 March
Week 7, GPP

Rotator Cuff Stuff
X 3

Noticeably harder today, probably due to fatigue from pressing yesterday.

Mobility

[bean counter]

Thursday 30 March
Week 7, Day 3

Bodyweight: 96.0 kg

Sumo
Belt
180 kg: 1 X 1 @ 7 [0.27 m/s]
190 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8.5 [0.20 m/s]
155 kg: 2 X 4 @ 7, 7
Conventional w/straps
155 kg: 3 X 4 @ 7, 7, 7
Totals: 22 reps, 3,470 kg

Good? 190 kg was a bit faster (previously 0.18 m/s) and certainly felt easier than when I did it three weeks ago. The downside is my knees are still collapsing in somewhat and the absolute velocity figure looks worse than the subjective effort feels. There still seems to a a drastic performance drop off above a certain weight. So while 190 kg wasn't that hard I don't really know how close to a max it actually is.

Touch wood, while I still have some hip and adductor soreness I seem to be tolerating the movement slightly better now, so I did two down sets with sumo before switching to conventional for the rest. Hopefully I can increase that to three sets next week.

Bench
100 kg X 5 @ 9.5, 9.5, 9.5
Totals: 15 reps, 1,500 kg

Good. Which is to say, extremely tough, but not provoking any immediate shoulder pain. Sets one and two felt hard from rep one and the final rep was a real teeth-gritted effort. Only reason I'm not calling it @10 is since it was evidently a repeatable effort, which a real @10 shouldn't be. I rested about seven minutes for the final set and while that started noticeably better, it was back to feeling maximal by the end.

This was another notch of intensity harder than 97.5 kg on Monday and my strength clearly isn't increasing as fast as linear loading at this point. Maybe I could get 102.5 kg next Monday, but I might fail and I don't want to do that with my shoulder issues. I was pleased at how well I could grind through reps during this session but relative to this Monday I really just had to focus on pushing really hard and my mind was distracted from keeping back tightness, which is absolutely crucial for me.

Consequently, this is the end of my "rehab" LP. Rehab in big quotation marks because my shoulder and other issues aren't fixed, but at least it's at a point where I think I can bench twice a week without necessarily getting more and more beat up, although the last week has been a bit worse in that sense. My tentative plan for the next few weeks (hoping to compete on May 14) is to keep one session as fives, and run out the reps on the other day.

V-Grip Pulldown
70 kg: 1 X 7 @ 6
75 kg: 1 X 7 @ 7
80 kg: 4 X 7 @ 8, 8, 8, 8
Totals: 42 reps, 3,255 kg

OK. There was a higher seat at the cable station this week, which forced me to lean back more both for bracing and to get a full ROM. That changed the movement pattern into something a bit more row-like, which isn't bad per se, while not being quite the desired training stimulus.

[bean counter]

Saturday 1 April
Week 7, Day 4

Six weeks out.

Bodyweight: 96.0 kg

HBBS
SBD knee sleeves
150 kg: 1 X 1 @ 7+
155 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8+
140 kg kg: 3 X 3 @ 8, 8, 8
Totals: 11 reps, 1,565 kg

OK. I was hoping for 160 kg on the single, but on reflection, 155 kg is actually a respectably high proportion of my belted low-bar squat, so that's OK. There was a tendency for lateral shift on the rep work. Didn't end up with my hips kicking back too much.

Seated Goodmorning
50 kg: 1 X 6
55 kg: 1 X 6
60 kg: 4 X 6
Totals: 36 reps, 2,070 kg

Hmmm. This was weird. I'm not sure I have the flexibilty to get much ROM. While pushing ROM I was feeling this in my lower back more than I'd like. I'll probably try again next week, but I definitely prefer regular goodmornings.

5ct Eccentric Pushups
3 X 12

Easy on the shoulders, hard on the elbows.

Plank
35s X 6, 60s
=4:30 in 7:00

DB Hammer Curls
7-10-10-10-10 kg X 25

Mobility

[Chris McCarthy]

Pleased to see that the bench situation is looking hopeful.

What meet are you targeting for May?

[bean counter]

Pleased to see that the bench situation is looking hopeful.

What meet are you targeting for May?

Just a local London competition. I'm not strong enough to qualify for national competitions.

Sunday 2 April
Week 7, GPP

Bodyweight: 95.5 kg

Spin Bike
25 minutes gentle

My hip hurt for the first five minutes, then eased off, so that's good.

Rotator Cuff
X 3

Mobility

[bean counter]

Monday 3 April
Week 8, Day 1

Bodyweight: 95.5 kg

LBBS
SBD knee sleeves, belt, wrist wraps
177.5 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8.5 [0.31 m/s, down 0.04 on last week]
147.5 kg: 6 X 4 @ 7, 7, 7, 7.5, 7.5, 8-
Totals: 25 reps, 3,720 kg

WTH? I kinda forgot how to squat and did a terrible top single. I remembered what to do by about the fourth set and finished better. But really, strength wasn't great today. Maybe weight loss is catching up with me. I'll stick with 177.5 kg again next week. I'm basically at the same place e1RM wise (189 kg) I was this time last cycle, which isn't great, but given a bit of weight loss isn't bad either. If I can squat 190 kg @ 93 kg in just under six weeks I suppose I'd be happy with that. While not beating my gym PB it would be a competition PB, and at a lower weight class.

Bench
105 kg: 1 X 1 @ 7?
102.5 kg: 3 X 4 @ 9.5, 9.5, 10
Totals: 13 reps, 1,335 kg

Really hard. Just as hard as 100 kg X 5, if not harder. Added wrist wraps for the last two sets and they didn't make it any easier. Maybe I should have done an easier session today and added the higher intensity session in on Thursday, but I wanted to put the more competition-specific work at the start of the week. I'll go for 95 kg for fives on Thursday for a slight deload rather than keep fives at 100 kg.

Shoulder has still been somewhat elevated in grumpiness these last few days. I'm very uncertain about how I'll be able to progress it in the lead up to my next competition. My old PB of 130 kg seems miles away, but 120 kg @ 93 kg would be OK I guess.

DB Seal Row
25 kg: 1 X 9 @ 6
27.5 kg: 1 X 9 @ 7
30 kg: 4 X 9 @ 8, 8, 8, 8
Totals: 54 reps, 3,105 kg

Fine. Persuaded another guy to give these a go rather than landmine rows.

[bean counter]

Tuesday 4 April
Week 8, Day 2

Bodyweight: 95.5 kg

4" Block Pull + Mini Band
170 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8
+ Straps
155 kg: 3 X 3 @ 8+, 8+, 8+
Totals: 10 reps, 1,565 kg

OK. Slightly heavier than previous banded pulls, although pure force may still be less than last week's 2" pulls. I tried pulling the band up with just my hands and the resistance didn't feel like that much. 10 kg maybe? Single and first set were getting off my legs a bit, which I amended for the last two sets.

Press
45 kg: 1 X 6 @ 6
50 kg: 1 X 6 @ 7
Belt
55 kg: 4 X 6 @ 8+, 8+, 8+, 8+
Totals: 36 reps, 1,890 kg

OK. Added a belt to the top sets to minimise back stress. Even with that, this still wasn't really any easier than last week. Avoiding wrist wraps for now.

303 Buffalo Bar Squat
105 kg: 1 X 6 @ 6
110 kg: 1 X 6 @ 7
115 kg: 2 X 6 @ 8, 8
Totals: 24 reps, 2,670 kg

OK. A bit heavier than last week, but still not a really taxing load. After relatively high volume of squatting yesterday I was unusually stiff while warming up for this.

DB Hammer Curls
7-10-10-10-10 kg X 25

Mobility

[bean counter]

Wednesday 5 April
Week 8, GPP

Bodyweight: 95.0 kg

And not in a good way. I slept poorly and was hot and thirsty throughout the night despite drinking a large glass of water at one point. I had a headache when I woke up.

Elliptical
25 mins @ c. 120 bpm

Rotator Cuff Stuff
X 3

Mobility

[bean counter]

Thursday 6 April
Week 8, Day 3

Bodyweight: 94.7 kg

Another low. Although I am getting a bit hungry on my current intake I think there's water weight / meal timing issues going on and I haven't really lost underlying mass as fast as the last few days would suggest.

Sumo
Belt
180 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8?
190 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8.5? [0.22 m/s]
155 kg: 6 X 4 @ 6.5, 6.5, 6.5, 7, 7, 7
Totals: 26 reps, 4,090 kg

Good. Training in the morning because I'm off work this week helped me feel fresher than usual. I forgot (yet again) to play around with hook grip while warming up, took one rep with it at 160 kg and thought better of using it for any working weights. 180 was a mess as I let the bar get in front of me. 190 kg had knees coming in yet again, and the bar drifted off my legs, but speed was up slightly on last week. I might try bumping up to 192.5 kg next week to see what happens there. Sets with 155 kg were almost like speed pulls to start with. I actually lost my balance backwards on rep one of set one and had to jump back to avoid falling over. I stuck with sumo and mixed grip the whole way this week. Hip and groin didn't protest much, but my knees did start hurting on the later sets.

Bench
95 kg X 5 @ 8, 8, 8
Totals: 15 reps, 1,425 kg

Good. This my new "light" bench day and it was nice and controlled relative to the grind that I've been going through recently. I'll try progressing this slot by 2.5 kg for the next couple of weeks. No pain in the shoulder, although there was some noise. Coach suggested trying wider / narrower grip to see if I can avoid irritation that way.

V-Grip Pulldown
65 kg: 1 X 9 @ 6
70 kg: 1 X 9 @ 7
75 kg: 4 X 9 @ 8, 8, 8, 8
Totals: 54 reps, 3,915 kg

OK. Elbows are quite sore at the moment. I don't think press was helping, as that has quite an acute elbow angle at the bottom and I was getting some clicking on Tuesday. I could feel this movement a bit in my shoulder, although it was more comfortable than last week.

[bean counter]

Saturday 8 April
Week 8, Day 4

Bodyweight: 95.0 kg

HBBS
SBD knee sleeves
155 kg: 1 X 1 @ 8-
142.5 kg: 3 X 3 @ 8, 8, 8-
Totals: 10 reps, 1,440 kg

Good. 155 kg was much better than last week, as were triples with 140 kg. Technique is very sensitive to bar position and on the last set I placed it just a touch too low, which resulted in a more hip dominant movement. Some lower leg pain. Knees were OK.

Reverse Hyper
+ 10 kg: 5 X 15

Fine. I subbed seated goodmornings for this as my lower back has been feeling a tiny bit tweaky for the last 24 hours or so.

5ct Eccentric Pushups
14, 12, 12

Added a couple of reps on the first set as twelve was kinda easy.

DB Hammer Curls
7-10-10-10-10 kg X 25

Plank
35s X 6, 45s
=4:15 in 6:45

Mobility

Training Data