Recreational Lifting with Misanthrope

[Misanthrope]

Sometimes I think a minor illness can be the body's way of telling us that we need a break. Better to get well and then have a decent workout than to workout when you shouldn't and make yourself sick.

My thinking exactly. I may take the rest of the week off if I'm not ready by tomorrow.

[Dredge]

Well, I guess I got what I set out to do for the day

[Misanthrope]

Well, I guess I got what I set out to do for the day

I run the show in here.

[Kyle]

That sucks that you got the ban stick at bb.com.

I can still rember when BOLT would troll me about a year or so ago and repost all my information as 'His Stuff'. Him and about 400,000 other people there are worthless fucks.

Good workouts man.

Kyle

[Misanthrope]

Upper

Military Press (strict form, heels together)
5x5
97.5 lbs

Notes: OK.

Flat Dumbbell Press
8-5-4
70 lbs

Notes: The last two sets were weak. My energy was shot at this point.

Chin-ups (neutral grip)
1x4
BW+25 lbs

Fuck it. I was done.

Comments
My first workout in nine days after being sick. The air conditioner at the gym wasn't working, which really made things difficult. I was drenched in sweat and coughing, and generally not feeling well. By the time I got to chins I just had nothing left. It was to be expected that my first workout after being sick wouldn't be stellar, but this was really disappointing. I was looking forward to getting back into action today, and my workout sucked.

Not sure if I'll do my squat workout tomorrow, or wait. Guess we'll have to see.

[r_graz]

2 things:

- You've already seen that your first workout or two after a layoff isn't stellar. I remember that from your journal previously.

- You've been sick, and that doesn't make for great "deload time".

I know it sucks to go back in after time off and feel like shit. I may have some of that coming to me next Monday But hang in there.

[Misanthrope]

2 things:

- You've already seen that your first workout or two after a layoff isn't stellar. I remember that from your journal previously.

- You've been sick, and that doesn't make for great "deload time".

I know it sucks to go back in after time off and feel like shit. I may have some of that coming to me next Monday But hang in there.

Yeah, you're right. A crappy workout is a letdown no matter what, though. Hopefully next session will run more smoothly.

[Misanthrope]

Lower

Squat
5x5
230 lbs

Notes: Good lord. I hate 5x5 squats, lol. The first few sets were solid. The last was a battle of keeping my mind from giving out before my body. A good deal of mental toughness is required to make it through the last couple of sets. Will increase another 2.5 lbs next week.

Power Clean
6x3
95 lbs

Notes: Still rough, but much, much improved over last time. I decided today to stop practicing from the hang position, so I elevated the bar to the same height as if the 45s were on there. The movement went much smoother for me because I could generate so much more power pulling from the floor. More and more reps were being racked with better efficiency. I also felt a nice little burn in my hamstrings. Does anyone else get that? More comments are included below.

Comments
Decided to call it a day after cleans and skip any accessory stuff. The workout was running fairly long anyway. Overall, this session felt much better than yesterday.

A couple more notes about the power clean. After pulling a few reps from the floor today, I think I realized why my timing had been so off before. Whenever I was pulling with a lot of force, I caught myself being hesitant about what to do once I got the bar to my thigh. This hesitation in turn caused me to be afraid to use "too much" force off the floor, which slowed down the movement and obviously took away a lot of the power. That split second of hesitation was affecting my timing on the second pull. To combat this, I gave myself a little jump command once I got the bar in position. It seemed to make a difference, because it allowed me to yank the bar up quickly without worrying what to do next. I guess you could say it came more natural. I still need a lot of work on the power clean, but today's performance was promising.

Off day tomorrow. Going for a PR on decline bench next session.

[HomeYield]

I don't know if you have access to one but a video camera would make critiquing powercleans a whole lot easier. It's such a technical lift that even though you can feel this and see certain things in the mirror you can't capture on your own what a video camera could from the side.

Good luck on the decline bench PR next time!

[r_graz]

Looks like things are looking up