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Friday 10/7/16
Body weight 192.3. Waist 37.0". Flat week. My fault for eating on the weekend and then drinking and snacking Tuesday night.
Warmups - shoulder dislocates and some band pull aparts
Bench - 205 for 5 and 5, 210 for 6. The 2nd set was ridiculously easy. I even asked my partner before I racked it, if that was 5 reps or not. Moved up to 210 because he just set a PR at the weight and knew I could get 5 with it.
CGBP - 195 for 5, 5, and 5. Wow, close grip is almost as strong as my normal grip (pinkies on the rings).
Overhead press - 115 for 5, 5, and 6. The 6th one was way slower than the others.
Hammer curls - 20lb dumbbells 30 total reps alternating arms
Supersetted with tricep pushdowns 70lbs for 20 reps. No way that was 70 pounds!
I did that round twice mostly for the pump, but also to kill some time while my partner was finishing up. I do miss the pump!
Another nonsense sighting. Some dude that was also there on Monday making a tremendous amount of noise was there again today, making even more noise doing some powercleans. I saw staff talking to him twice, over heard part of the first conversation, and if anything he was pushing bar down harder into the floor after the talks. He sounded like a dick, looked like a dick, acted like a dick...I'm pretty sure he is a dick. Hopefully this asshat doesn't ruin it for the rest of us that want to deadlift without dropping the bar or setting it down soft like a feather. That'll be a deal breaker for me.
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Sadly, it seems like every gym has "that guy" - even going to a powerlifting gym where the owner actually meets and screens each perspective member you still get one or two jerks that drop even their warm up deadlifts with all iron plates. Seriously Mister Six Plate Deadlift, you have to drop your 3 plate warm up reps?Originally Posted by caveman
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Monday 10/10/16
Bodyweight 192.5 (more excuses, less results)
Warmups - squats
Squats - 340 for 5. I think this was a solid RPE 9. Very happy about that!
Front squats - 255 for 1, 275 for 1, 295 for 1, 315 for 0. I was feeling pretty strong today and squats were moving well so I thought I would try and hit a 3 plate front squat. 295 moved well enough that I gave myself 50-50 for 315. Unfortunately, I reset the safeties in case I needed to bail, and unfortunately, I used what I know works for back squats which was just a bit too high for front squats. I bonked the safety in the hole and it totally messed up the motion of the lift. I tried to fit it, but got stuck about 1/2 way up before I had to give-in. I wanna say I could have got it without the mishap, but... it would have been close.
Deadlifts - 345 for 1 DOH grip. Then 375 for 5. That was close to an RPE 10. Reps 2-4 moved well. 1 and 5 were a little on the slower side, but not grindy. Well, the 5th was close to grindy...
Well, I got to work out next to the "smasher" again. That's the nickname I came up with today for the guy described above. I figured we were safe because he was squatting. I mean seriously how much noise can you make while squatting? Turns out you can make quite a bit. All you have to do is drop the bar on the j-hooks after your set is done. This motion is apparently even more effective if you leap forward in the cage to avoid absolutely any eccentric during the reracking motion. And no I wasn't THAT impressed with him squatting 305 beltless for a couple of sets of 4 or 5. He dive bombed the decent, stopped just a smidge high, and had some knee cave right after the bounce. He's probably 6'4"'ish and I'd guess 220'ish in his late 20's. As we were getting ready to start pulling I noticed that the smasher was gone, but that all of his weights were on the floor around the rack. I'm not normally one to complain, but I mentioned that the smasher had left his weights around the cage to the guy at the front desk as I was heading out the door. That being said, my reps at 375 were pretty loud, hopefully it's a non-issue... especially since I squat so quietly... like a mouse... no like a ninja...
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Tuesday 10/11/16
Bodyweight 191.6
Warmups - unloaded bar
Bench - 235 for 5. Pretty sure I could not have got another rep. e1RM = 264. Then I did a paused single at 215 just to kill sometime before my buddy attempted his PR at 215.
Slingshot - skipped. My right foremarm is not happy with something since yesterday. So I'm doing the bare minimum until it feels more normal.
Overhead press - 140 for 6. e1RM=163 That was an RPE10 with a grinder for the last rep. But I got it! I can't believe how quickly my press is improving. A month ago I was at 135 for 3!
Hammer curls - 20lbs for 30 reps total
Tricep push downs - 40lbs for 30 reps. Just something to get a pump and try to get some blood flowing in my arm and promote any healing that I can.
Not a lot of work today, but some serious progress.
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Thursday 10/13/16
Bodyweight - didn't measure, probably high, had a drink last night and some chips with spicy hummus before going to bed.
Warmup - 5min on rower, 2:30 pace
I went in to today, feeling a little beat up and generally unmotivated. My low back seems a little tender and I feel tired despite getting a good night's rest last night. So I decided I would go lighter today and knock out some sets of 8. Turns out sets of 8 are fawking hard!
Squats - 275 for 8, 8, and 8. Despite being an RPE 8, I felt like puking after each set.
Front squats - 225 for 8, 8, and 8. See above. I actually laid on the floor for about 30 seconds after the last set was completed. These were probably a soft RPE 9. But my shoulders were hurting (bruised, probably from the 1RM attempt and to compensate I was trying to have the bar back farther which was choking me)
Sumo deads - 305 for 8. Whoa! Where'd that come from? I destroyed these. I could have done 10. These are the best sumo deadlifts have ever felt for me. Glad I didn't skip them. I almost did...
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From Friday 10/14/16
Bodyweight - 193 something, though waist was down to 36.75". Not terribly pleased about the status quo with the weight, but I am happy that the waist size is continuing to shrink.
Bench - 185 for 8, 8, and 8.
CGBP - 175 for 8, 8, and 8.
Overhead press - 115 for 8 and 7. In a hurry and these were both RPE 10's so I thought that was good enough. Plus my arms felt like jelly after the CGBP.
Farmers walk - 85's in each hand.
As I write this on Saturday, I am shocked at how sore my legs are from squatting and how sore my chest is from benching simply by changing the reps from 5 to 8. I don't enjoy 8's very much so it's back to 5's next week. Unless I still feel beat up...
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From Saturday,
HIIT rowing - 7 rounds 20s on / 100 s trying not to puke. The first 5 rounds were 1:31 or better, with a best of 1:29, round 6 was 1:32 and round 7 was 1:33. Surprisingly, these times are decent, for me, and it wasn't nearly as horrible as I remembered it.
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Monday 10/17/16
Bodyweight - 193.6. Not that great, but yesterday and today I was using my next tightest belt hole for my everyday clothes. So I'll call that progress despite what the scale says.
Warmup - squats
Squats - 345 for 5. Another solid RPE 9. I am very pleased with how squats have been progressing this past month. I'm close to all time PR land, and that is making trying to continue to lose weight much more difficult.
Front squats - 255 for 5. Probably a RPE 9.5 here. One more was not a definite here.
Deads - 380 for 5. Wasn't sure if I was going to go through with these or not. My left knee starting complaining a little bit during front squats, and my back still feels delicate for some reason. That and it didn't seem like I was extending my spine properly during warmups. It seemed to get better at the end so I decided to grip and rip it. Getting close to not being able to get 5's anymore though.
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Tuesday 10/18/16
Bodyweight 193.5 - still walking around with the smaller belt hole
Warmup - bench
Bench - 240 for 5. Was feeling just a little bit discomfort at the bottom most part of the lift. Definitely did not have another one in the tank. Not sure if I'll repeat this week before adding 5lb or implement that strategy after I can only get 4. I have also toyed with the idea of just adding 5lb until I get to a weight that I can't double and then starting over. Not sure my joints will stand for that though. So many choices....
Slingshot - skipped, worried about my elbows...
Paused bench - 175 for 3. Just killing time while my partner finished out his sets. Touch point seemed awfully low on these. Wondering if I was trying to compensate for something?
Overhead press - 145 for 5. Definitely not another one in the tank, but the last one was fast enough that there is hope that I can get 5 at 150 next week. Yay!
Handstand pushups - 2 followed by a static hold of unknown duration. There is no doubt that I am getting stronger. A month ago I couldn't do any of these, even relatively fresh!
Hammer curls with 20's for 30 followed immediately by tricep extensions for 70 (which is really 35) for 30. Just to get the pump and some blood flowing through my arms.
Well, here is where I have consistently stalled on the upper body lifts. A 1RM bench in the 270's and an overhead press 1RM in the 160's. Curious to see if I blow past these long standing plateaus or start spinning my wheels again.
And I have had several people recently ask me how much weight I've lost, which is a good thing even if the scale is not cooperating. Need to tighten up the diet a little and embrace the hunger at 10PM...
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Forgot to add the 10 neutral grip pullups before heading out. That's plus 2 over what I could do before.
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