Dillon's Intermediate Log

[Dillon Spencer]

Dude, finally got around to catching up on your log. You're in the zone it seems.

The 4day TM you're using has ID and VD same day for different lifts; where'd you find that template? I like it, but not enough to switch mid-cycle. Maybe later.

Thanks Geoff! I've really been liking this template. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it's mentioned in PPST. Could be wrong about that though, because I started it before I got the newest edition. In all honesty I probably first saw it somewhere on here just searching the forums. I posted about it in the programming thread and Andrew Jackson suggested doing it this way. I really like how it keeps the presses from competing with one another. I always have gas left in the tank after the intensity lift for whatever volume is planned for the day. I haven't tried it, but I'd imagine that trying to do either 5x5 or set a new PR on both lifts could cause the second lift to suffer somewhat. I've loved it so far, but what you're doing has certainly been working for you! You're turning into a monster!

[Dillon Spencer]

11/27/19
Squats ID 330x5x1 (PR)
Deadlift VD 305x5x2

Everything felt easy breezy today. Or, you know, as easy breezy as a new five rep PR is going to feel. Squats felt great today after my shitty volume day, so that was nice. Even made some new gym friends!

[Dillon Spencer]

12/1/18
Press ID 160x3x2
Bench VD 197.5x5x5
DB hammer curls 30x13x5
Rows 170x8x3
LTEs 90x8x3
C2 intervals 5x200m 60s rest

Back at it after a few days due to a jam packed work/social calendar. Main lifts all felt great today. Press got a little grindy, but no big deal. Decided to throw in a few intervals at the end, since I was in no big hurry. Still trying to gain weight, but I'm at a point that I'd prefer not to gain much more fat in the process. Might start to add some conditioning back in from time to time.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/5/18
Power clean practice 45x3 95x3 145x3
Deadlift ID 375x2 (PR) 350x2
Squats VD 295x5x5

Ugh... Really not happy with how often I've been able to make it to the gym the last couple of weeks, but things are winding down at work after report card season, and my social calendar doesn't seem as rammed as it was. Should be getting back to normal here. Operation Do What Wolf Says is still proceeding well on the deadlift. Pretty confident I'll pull 4 plates at the end of this run out. Actually feel like I could have pulled it last night, but I'm being patient and trusting the process. Squats felt just fine. Cool side note is that I walked into one of the power rack rooms at my gym last night to see that they had just replaced the three old power racks with new half racks on shiny new Eleiko platforms. Got a whole bunch of sweet Olympic plates too! I didn't get to lift on them because they were too busy, but I'm very much looking forward to it! Gotta say, for a big box globogym, my particular location is pretty decent as far as staff and equipment go.

EDIT: Forgot to talk about my power clean plan! Forget where exactly, but I recently saw someone around here suggest incorporating power cleans as part of the deadlift warm up. Decided to try it. Not really because I plan to power clean a ton of weight at the moment, but because I want a spot to practice the technique. Actually surprised myself with what I thought was pretty decent form after struggling with it previously. At some point I'll make adding weight to them a greater priority, but they don't really fit into my program at the moment. I only pull twice per week, and they're not heavy enough to drive my deadlift. They remain a practice lift for now.

Also had to change some 2s to 3s, because typing is hard.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/7/18
Bench 232.5x3x2 (PR)
Press 142.5x5x5
Rows 175x8x3
C2 tabata

Third reps were serious grinders. Objectively, they probably weren't as slow as they felt, but subjectively they felt like they took all day. Last rep of the second set was the closest I've been to failure in a while. Press and rows felt great. I did rows again today because I realized that by pairing them with bench volume day, they fall before deadlift intensity day. Depending on my schedule, the day before sometimes. Not like they've messed up deadlifting day, but it seems suboptimal. Chinning before deadlifting seems to make more sense. Give the low back a rest. Snuck in a quick bit of conditioning on the rower again, which sucked. That's kind of the point of a tabata though.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/8/18
Squats ID 335x5x1 (PR)
Deadlift VD 310x5x2
Sled pushes/backward drags 5xTurf @270 60s rest

Holy jello legs Batman! Squats felt good, but after rep 4, I wasn't sure about coming back up with number 5. Was probably a bit ugly, but it happened. Did a few power cleans as part of my deadlift warm up. Think I started to arm pull at 135, but not sure. I was doing a better job of not jumping early though, which used to be my biggest problem. Deadlifts themselves felt shitty. Not in terms of weight. I just felt incompetent for some reason. Kind of like my squats a couple of weeks ago. It happens! The jello legs are from the sled stuff. Been playing with some conditioning, and the backwards drags absolutely murdered my quads. Limped down the two flights of stairs out of the gym like a baby giraffe.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/11/18
Press ID 162.5x2x3 (PR)
Bench VD 200x5x5
Chins 10-3-2-2 30s rest

Dropped to doubles on the press today. Felt like the right time. Like that bench volume day is up to the 200 lbs mark. Was in a hurry so just did one set of chins in sort of a rest pause kind of way.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/14/18
Deadlift ID 380x1x3 (PR)
Squats VD 300x5x5

Deadlift singles flew up. Felt real nice. Gunning for the 4 plates, and I'm pretty confident I could hit it any time I want right now. Sticking to the plan is hard! Squats weren't particularly enjoyable. Was working on cutting off depth a bit because I have a tendency to go a bit deeper than I have to. Think I'm going to start cycling reps on intensity day and hold volume day steady for a few weeks at a time. Seems to have worked for many others. It'll let me keep putting weight on the bar every intensity day, but seems like a bit of a break from grinding out a five rep PR every week, because they've been getting dicey and my squats are feeling a little rundown lately. PPST says to run it out on the first time or two through TM, but I'm already getting close to the end of running out my other lifts and I don't love the idea of going months without attempting a new five rep PR on the squat. A bit experimental, but I'm looking forward to it.

12/15/18
Bench ID 235x2x3 (PR)
Press VD 145x5x5
Rows 180x8x3

Down to doubles on the bench, but these went up pretty comfortably. Presses and rows all felt good. Even snuck in some power clean practice between press sets. Just some singles at 95 to practice the technique, which actually felt pretty good. Hoping to find a way to keep sneaking the weight up without it interfering with my other lifts. It's just hard given the limited time, space, and barbells when it's busy at my gym.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/18/18
Squats ID 345x3x2
Deadlift VD 315x5x2
KB complex 3 rounds

So I decided to implement my plan for cycling rep ranges on intensity day. Wasn't sure how much heavier to make my triples today. Went with 10 lbs, which felt pretty good! Challenging, but not quite as grindy as my last set of five was, which was the goal. I like that this lets me get a heavier weight on my back sooner, even if it's for fewer reps. By the time have to hit a new five rep PR, I'll have felt weights significantly heavier. Looking forward to it!

I'm also going to start reducing the volume on my deadlift volume day. Wolf didn't give me as detailed a plan for volume day as he did for intensity day, but I'm quite aware I've taken 2 sets of 5 further than I should have. It's just that when it's at 80% of intensity day, you always know you can hit it! I liked the idea of getting to 315 on volume day. Plus, we always talk about how great the deadlift is at packing on muscle, and who doesn't want more of that? Now that I'm there I'll drop some volume next week.

[Dillon Spencer]

12/20/18
Press ID 165x2x3 (PR)
Bench VD 202.5x5x5
Chins 25x6x3 +2,1 rest pause

All felt good! Elbow got a little cranky chinning because I had to do them on the TRX rig at the gym, which means a straight bar and a bit of a close grip. No big deal, just not ideal. I had a good case of golfer's elbow about a year ago, and while it's not really an issue now, my elbow sometimes feels like it's teetering on the brink of a relapse.

12/21/18
Deadlift ID 390x1 (PR) 365x1x2
Squats ID 300x5x5

Hated my deadlifts today. Everything came up easy enough, but there was some very inconsistent form happening. On the 390, I got onto my heels. I overcompensated on the next back off, and the bar came way off my legs. Third one was fine, I think. I also skipped a week in the run out Wolf wrote up. Decided I want to get 4 plates by the end of the year, so it's going down next week. No doubt I can hit it, I just hope it's not ugly!

Repeated 300x5x5 as per my plan. First two sets didn't feel great, but the last three felt like some of my best grooved squats in a while.