Spinoza's log

[slowgain]

Try incline dumbbell presses, if you've got the bells. I absolutely love them and look forward to putting them back into the rotation once my BP isn't embarrassing. For some reason I found them much easier on my shoulders than benching or pressing, but that is probably due to my shitty technique.

When I said functional strength, I meant that conventional deadlifts seem to me like a better simulation of real-world lifting. There is almost nothing other than a barbell that could be more effectively lifted in a sumo position. I think sumo lifters train conventionally at least some of the time and break out the sumo stance for meets. I don't even know why I'm talking about sumo lifting, since I know nothing about it.

[spinoza]

Yup, it's been nearly a week since I did my last training session. Busy time for me and I'm not prioritizing my strength training.

I'll do volume day tomorrow.

[spinoza]

I finally made it to the gym, but I was so short on time I decided to do an intensity day instead.

First, the good news. I was doing power cleans, and 275 felt sort of light, so I decided to go for a 5 lbs PR attempt. I successfully power cleaned 295. I'm only 20 lbs from my "lifetime" goal -- but I have a feeling those next 20 lbs will be daunting.

Then, I deadlifted. I only got 3x495. Maybe the power cleans took a little something out of me, but that's alright. I haven't been consistent with my training lately due to schedule, so any gains whatsoever are an unexpected bonus. The power clean PR pretty much made the week for me. It looks damn impressive to power clean 2 large plates and one 35 plate, especially since I'm still not getting low at all (I would say I have a 20 degree bend at my knee). I did use straps though due to grip issues. The bar I was using was too thick for me to get a good grip on. Same for deadlift.

I waited 5 minutes for the single squat rack to become available, but being pressed for time, that's all I waited. So, no squatting today. I feel like a semi-pussy, but fuck you, I power cleaned 295.

[spinoza]

I am not liking December. I'm starting to feel like crap -- a little rest can be a good thing, but a lot of rest not so much.

I did work out though. I squatted. 3x5x375. Man, it was harder than I thought it would be. I barely made the first set. I haven't been eating or sleeping well, so not totally unexpected. I decided to do a hard 3 sets since I wasn't sure I'd be able to plan my week (i.e., too inconsistent lately) -- so basically, I'm temporarily on SS programming. I reset on overhead pressing... I just did 3x5x155. Yeah, weaksauce, but I'm in recovery mode for my shoulders, which have been causing me grief as of late. That's all I did. I may do deadlifts tomorrow, but I'm thinking about going lighter and doing more reps.

[spinoza]

Deadlifts today. I'm working on kind of a SS routine given my limited time, lack of eating right, lack of sleep (Xmas, bleh). However, I was actually feeling good today -- I did my deadlifts, 4x495, then 1x515, then 1x545. New PR. And the 545 felt much much easier than the 540 I did awhile ago (which also caused me to tweak my back). I think I was good for at least 10 more pounds, but to be conservative, let's say I'm good for 550. So, that's pretty cool. I can definitely see 600 pounds in the future. I haven't been consistent with my training, so that makes it especially nice to hit two PRs this week -- 295 power clean and 545 deadlift. Note huge PRs -- and not really planned either -- but 5 lbs in each lift ain't bad. After deadlifts, I did 315 ATG paused squats, focusing on speed. I literally shot up on the squats. I'm convinced I could have PR'd in the squat too, but I figured that was enough for today. Next time I do ATG, I'll do 330, and focus on speed. I think I like doing dynamic sort of exercises -- lighter weight, can focus on form, and sometimes I have the need for speed.

Btw, I did squats barefoot today. It seemed a lot better than using my crusty basketball shoes. I'm just gonna do squats and power cleans barefoot for now on.

Note: Didn't do any upper body work, except light stuff to rehab shoulders.

[spinoza]

I've really been slipping on my programming, but I do get to the gym sporadically.

I'm not posting my log of what I did -- it was minimal, anyway. I've been doing more deadlifts every workout lately since the time between workouts is typically around 7 days. My volume and frequency, clearly, is extremely low, but that's OK (I'm feeling a lot less beat up). I assumed I would just be maintaining my strength during this period, but I'm making solid gains, especially in the deadlift. I worked up to 560 in the deadlift. Big PR. I see 6 plates in my future. Then, I worked up to 230 in the overhead press. Small PR.

I don't think I'm making any gains in the squat since that lift seems to need more frequency/volume. When I do squats, sometimes I'll do 3 pretty heavy sets (last time I did 3x5x370), or I'll just do paused ATG squats (pausing for a count of 5 or more). Today, I did 3x1x350 ATG paused. I'm enjoying them. They provide a different stimulus/stress, so hopefully when I get back to doing volume+intensity squats, this time will have proven beneficial. I'm definitely feeling extremely flexible.

Not bad for spending only about 1.5 hours / week in the gym. I'm still not ready to hit the gym hard, but it's coming...

[spinoza]

Alright, the decent weather has motivated me to get out of the house and lift some shit again.

I had a good day.

Squat: ATG high-bar back squats paused (5 sec) 5x1x360. Front squats 3x3x280, overhead squats 2x2x225. I did a bunch of light work for the overheads and fronts to work on form. I'll be LP'ing fronts and overheads. I'm hoping to get them up to some serious weight quickly.

Power cleans: 3x2x275. Then, I worked on form for the full cleans.

Tire flips, tire carries (farmer's walking them). Got a little muddy!

Since my workout schedule has been so sporadic, I've decided to do more variation and experimentation.

[spinoza]

Yesterday I did this:

Deadlift: 4x495, resetting between reps. I was hoping for 5, although I went into the lifts with a negative mind-set (too tired, too janky, etc). Oh well.
Squat: 3x5x365. It was a long day. When I came to the gym, I had been up a solid 16 hours already and I was ready for bed-time. I haven't did serious squatting like this in a few weeks. So, I did what I thought would be a light day -- turned out this was hard as fuck. I cheated on the last rep of the last two sets a bit by not going as low as I wanted.

I then took a brief break as I was going to do overheads next and wanted some recovery time. I ended up snoozing in one of the leg press machines. When I came to (must have been only a minute or so), I got up and bolted the hell out of there to get some sleep.

Part of me feels like I'm not making much progress as of lately due to my undisciplined training the past month (or more?), but on the other hand I'm making progress in my 1RM, except the squat.

[spinoza]

Just wanted to post a quick update (yeah, I still lift, but very low volume): I hit 345 in the power clean. "Life-time" goal (whatever that means) was 315, and I'm now pretty well past it.