One More Log In The Fire

[George Christiansen]

New Year.
New Log.
Because: Reasons.

The plan for now is basically a H-M-L rotating squat and deadlift the same way a lot of folks rotate press and bench.


Week A
Monday
Press 3 sets @100%
Squat 3 sets @100%
Pull Ups 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Wednesday
Bench 3 sets @95%
Deadlift 3 sets @90%
Trx Rows 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Friday
Press 3 sets @90%
Squat 3 sets @80%
Chins 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Week B

Monday
Bench 3 sets @100%
Deadlift 3 sets @100%
Pull Ups 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Wednesday
Press 3 sets @95%
Squat 3 sets @90%
Trx Rows 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Friday
Bench 3 sets @90%
Deadlift 3 sets @80%
Chins 3 sets @BWxAMRAP-1

Also going to rotate through reps every two weeks. I am not sure how much is physiological and how much is psychological, but I do way better adding this way rather than just adding weight every week to the same rep scheme. Also going to do planned deloads. I always seem to wait too long and then something that kills my recovery happens and I am fighting not to regress.

Week 1 & 2: 7's
Week 3 & 4: 5's
Week 5 & 6: 3's
Week 7: Deload

Did a sort of deload/just try to do the least I can without regressing this week. It also let me make sure, based on RPE these were decent weight selections for the next cycle of training. Everything was done for two less reps than they will be in the next cycle:

Monday 65 min.
Press 160x1, 145x3, 130x5
Squat 330x1, 300x3, 270x5
Chins 3x3 Very slow, controlled reps

Friday 65 min.
Bench 200x1, 185x3, 170x5 (Giving Straight Bar another go. From the pins.)
Deadlift 360x1 (Belt), 330x3 (Belt), 300x5 (Beltess w/straps. Just forgot the belt until after the srtaps were purrfect, so fuck it.)

I got really sick on the 30th, took a bunch of DayQuil and NyQuil on the 31st, and in spite of trying to go to bed at 11PM got exactly ZERO hours sleep until the night of the 1st and am still pretty much behind by a day's worth, but I feel ok now. A bit congested (mostly nasal), but still good enough to going to this for my birthday on Saturday:

Fire & Beer - High Gravity Beer Event

It is actually cold enough here in Florida this week to NEED the bonfire.

[George Christiansen]

Monday 246.8lbs 65 minutes

Press 130x7@8, 139x7@9, 130x5@9
Squat 280x7@8.5, 265x7@9, 245x7@8.5
Pull Ups BWx3@7.5, 3@8, 3@8.5

Nothing was heavy per se. it was more me being out of shape after two weeks of maintenance-ish training and being sick. Deadlifts should be an absolute joy on Wednesday.

Actually got pretty drunk on my birthday. (8%+ beers, plus drinking outside in the cold weather will let it sneak up on you.) Haven't been that drunk since being in Abu Dhabi and probably another 5 years before that. Probably had no effect on today though, right?

[George Christiansen]

Wednesday 68 Minutes

Bench (Straight Bar) 160x7x3@7
Deadlift w/ straps 270x7@7, 255x7x2@7
Trx Rows BWx7x3@7

Still a bit congested. A tad sore from Monday, but the strain today was more my lungs during deadlifts rather than muscular fatigue. Could have gone heavier on bench too, but my form is a tad off from doing swiss bar all this time, so I was working on technique more. Didn't hurt though, so that is a huge plus.

[George Christiansen]

Friday 65 Minutes

Press 120x7x3@8, @8.5, @9
Squat 225x7@8.5, 200x7x2@8
Chins BWx5x3@8, @8.5, @9

STILL congested. FTS! All these RPE's are from not being able to breathe more than the weights. Also sleeping kinda shitty all week due to said congestion and no CPAP due to said congestion. FTS!

[George Christiansen]

Monday 247.8lbs 70 minutes

Bench 175x7@7.5, 175x7@8.5, 175x7@8.5
Deadlift 300x7@7.5, 300x7@8.5, 285x7@8.5
Pull Up BWx3x4

Still a bit congested, but probably at about 90%. The deadlift aerobics certainly got me coughing up some gunk, but feeling way better than last week.

[George Christiansen]

Wednesday 75 Minutes

Press 125x8@8, 130x7@8.5, 132.5x1-@10
Squat 250x7@8, 250x7@8.5x2
Trx Rows BWx7@7.5x2, BWx7@8, BWx7@8.5

Decided that I should add or subtract a rep during a set to stay at the desired RPE's, which for now are 8-9 for 5-8 reps and 9-10 for 1-4 reps. This is as opposed to adding sets, which will mess with the time constraints I have going on right now.

[George Christiansen]

Friday 75 Minutes

Bench 45x10, 95x5, 120x5, 150x3,
Bench w/wraps 185x1, 205x1, 160x10@8, 170x7@8.5, 170x7@10

Deadlift 65x10, 115x5, 135x5, 225x5, 315x3
Deadlift w/3"belt 365x1, 390x1
Deadlift w/belt & straps 250x10@8, 250x8@8, 250x7@7.5

Chins BWx5@8, 5@9, 4@10, 3@10

Feeling about 95% today. A bit of congestion still, but definitely less coughing between sets and such.

Decided to go back to the overwarm up technique. Seems to work well for me. Otherwise my first sets feel like crap motor pattern wise. Going to a heavy single @ 90%-ish works better for me that just doing more warm up sets which just create fatigue, but don't seem to cure the first set blues.

Gonna switch to a total rep goal for chins, pull ups, and TRX Rows. My grip was screwed today after deadlifts even though I use straps on the work sets.

[George Christiansen]

Monday 70 Minutes

Press 45x10x2, 95x5, 120x3, 135x,160x1
Press w/belt & wraps 5x145@8.5, 145@9.5, 137.5@9
Squat 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 300x1, 340x1
Squat 300x5@9, 285x5@8.5, 275x5@8.5
Pull Ups EMOM 4/2/2/2/2/1/2

I think yesterday's bedroom PR's affected today's squats a bit. Sorry; not sorry.
Still a tad congested. Only really feeling it after squats.

[George Christiansen]

Wednesday 75 minutes

Wednesday
Bench Warm Up 45x10, 70x5, 95x5, 120x5, 150x3, 185x1, 205x1,
Bench w/wraps 180x5@7.5, 185x5@8.5, 185x5@9.5

Deadlift Warm Up 65x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 390x1
Deadlift w/straps and 3" belt 295x5@7.5, 310x5@8, 310x5@8

TRX Rows EMOMxBWx5/5/5/5/5/3/3/3/3/3

Wife attacked me this morning before the kids woke up. There was a split second where I actually thought "I have to do deadlifts in a couple of hours." That might be a sign that I need counselling of some sort.

[George Christiansen]

Friday 75 minutes

Press 45x10, 70x5, 95x5, 120x3, 135x1, 160x1, 137.5x5x3@8, 8.5, 9
Squat 45x10, 95x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 340x1, 275x5@9, 260x5x2@8.5, 7.75 (WTF?)
Chins EMOMxBWx3,3,3,3,2,2,1,2,2,2

Had a super stressful afternoon with the boy yesterday..aka...Captain Argument. Woke up with a headache and my neck bothering me, which hasn't bothered me much for a few weeks or so. Feels mostly ok now.