Lifting to Live

[Meshuggah]

There's some nice work going on in here!

[Bill Anders]

Beating myself up, learning things the hard way. Just how I do most things.

Perhaps one day I'll get to the point that I'm throwing around weights like you!

[Bill Anders]

6/7/21 - Monday

SQ - H*
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
255x1
290x5x3

BP - M
45x5
95x3
135x1
170x1
190x5x4

PC - H
65x5
85x3
115x1
135x1
155x3x5

Music - SiriusXM, Prince Channel, Happy Born Day (b. 1958) Show - Prince, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man & Prince, Welcome 2 America w/ the incomparable Tal Wilkenfeld on Bass. She was just 24 when this was recorded in 2010 (released April 2021).

Notes
Shifted left one day this week due to conflicts later this week that would impact my Heavy Deadlift. Can't have that now, can we? Although that also means a 2-week run without a 72-hour break.
- SQ - A reset here (hence the H*). The squat was still going up fine at 10lbs/week, but it was catching up quickly to a stalled deadlift (read "Artificially Weak Deadlift" linked above). So I reset to the 50lb spread that I had when the stall began so that my posterior chain could recover a bit and see if that positively impacts my deadlifts without a reset there. Although scheduling over the next few weeks may necessitate that.
- BP - Shifting to Nick's late-novice press programming, after Saturday's Press "performance." The bench was getting to the point that I was going to have to quickly start Nick's program, but was at the end of the first portion of the program for the Press. It didn't make sense to start benching that way while the press stayed stuck for a few weeks. So following a TM-style schedule, this was my first volume day (5x4, moving to 5x5).
- PC - It was an odd one. As the warmups progressed, the lower back got tighter and tighter. I was not looking forward to the work sets. Yet the back was just fine through all of them. Between and after, too.

[J. Killmond]

Overnight, while recovering well, I ran across Robert Santana's Artificially Weak Deadlifts article from 2018. That article, plus the comments in the forum (especially this one) got me to realize that a reset of my squats, not my deadlift, were in order. So I planned on doing that next week, while still going 325x5x3 today.

Robert Santana's deadlift articles and the comments were critical for me--as you can see, I commented on that same forum discussion. The progress I made, however, was on a split schedule, in which I deadlifted one day and then followed the next day with the squat, never the reverse. Maybe there is an approach that would work for me that is less two-steps forward, one-step back--but it has helped breach a real barrier for me.

[Bill Anders]

Robert Santana's deadlift articles and the comments were critical for me--as you can see, I commented on that same forum discussion. The progress I made, however, was on a split schedule, in which I deadlifted one day and then followed the next day with the squat, never the reverse. Maybe there is an approach that would work for me that is less two-steps forward, one-step back--but it has helped breach a real barrier for me.

Yep, I did see your comments. You made a very good contribution in a sea of very good comments in that thread.

It's another great example of there being so much good content here, but tying all of it together takes time and experience. I had read that article a while back, which was key for me trying to keep a good separation between my squats and deads previously. I even tracked it closely last year once I could restart my LP. Even when the gap started to close after reaching a 100lb peak differential, it didn't bother me too much.

But last week I had reached the point where I realized that resetting my deads would put both squats & deads at the same weight. My lower back/glutes were NOT happy, which was a contributing factor to me starting this LP in April with the deads on a HLM cycle, knowing that the cumulative stress was beating me up even then. Hindsight being what it is, I should have shifted my squats to HLM at the same time that I switched my deads, even though the squats were running a good LP the entire time, so they didn't really meet the criteria for switching. That's the mistake of not tying the two together like Andy Robert mentioned in the comments.

We'll see how it goes, especially with the warmup fix based on your comments here. Thanks!

[Bill Anders]

6/9/21 - Wednesday

Squat - L
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
260x5x3

OP - V
45x5
75x3
105x1
130x5x4 4, 5, 5, 4, 2

DL - H
135x4
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1
340x5 PR

Music - was listened to, but not a priority today (see below).

Notes
- Crazy workout. Family emergency emerged, so I was taking calls during squat & press sets, then making flight reservations. All told, this workout took over 3 hours from start to finish. Thankfully we have a garage gym.
- SQ - A pretty standard L day. The very first rep of the very first set, five perfect drops of blood dropped out of my nose. Those were an extra Fahve! All felt good, as they should.
- OP - A lot on my mind, really messed with focus during that first and fourth set (obviously). The first set, I mis-grooved but saved #4, but then rushed #5, which didn't get past my eyes. For that fourth set, I just lost tension due to lack of focus.
- DL - At more than 2.5 hours after I started my warmups, I was wondering how this would go, especially considering the last month's experience with this 340lb pull. Easy warmup thanks to J. Killmond, then a much more comfortable work set than I deserved for it to be. It was heavy, but not brutal.
Now it may be another month before I can get under the bar. Most of that I was planning, but this emergency adds another week+ to that time away.

[Bill Anders]

6/20/21 - Sunday

SQ
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
255x1
295x5
265x5x2

OP
45x5
75x3
105x1
132.5x3x2 (132.5x4 + 132.5x2)
120x5x2

Music - Parliament, Flash Light; Sanctuary vs Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit (ft Dave Mustaine); and Megadeth vs Nancy Sinatra - These Boots (Are Made for Walking).

Notes
- This was a maintenance session, with Intensity sets followed by back-off sets. I had my unplanned 11 day break due to a family emergency and I have a planned 2-week break coming up. No sense in trying to resume training over these sessions.
- SQ - The 295 felt appropriately heavy, considering the break, but went well, as did the back-off sets. ETA: a couple of hours later, my hamstrings are royally pissed. That's the price for the break.
- OP - The plan was 132.5x3x2. The first 3 went surprisingly well, so I tacked on a 4th, then tried for a 5th (which did go past my nose), the rested before rounding out with +2. The back-off sets were quite comfortable.

[Bill Anders]

6/22/21 - Tuesday

BP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
200x1
210x3x2
190x5x2

DL
135x4
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1
345x1x3
315x2

Music - Not music, but this was posted as I was warming up for Bench, when I really wasn't feeling any of it. I don't do RPE, but the rest of the message was timed perfect.

- Top choices from SiriusXM, Ozzy's Boneyard, Duff McKagan's Three Chords and the Truth, Gary Clark Jr - Come Together (Beatles cover), and Jane's Addiction, Summertime Rolls.

Notes
- Same primary note as above. A lot of the past 2 weeks caught up to me today and I just really didn't feel it. But I know that it will be another 2 weeks before I will be under the bar again, so I needed to get it done.
- BP - The warmups felt like garbage, even at 185x1. But I got the Intensity and back-off sets done.
- DL - Warmups felt good, as did the first two singles at 345 (which was programmed). I got cocky and pulled a third at 345, which still felt good, so I thought "what the hell" go for 5 singles instead of the programmed back-off set of 315x3. The 4th stuck at mid-shin and sat there, even as I did my countdown. So back to the original plan. I'm not mad, nor upset. The 345 was still +5 from my 340x5 of two weeks ago, and I hadn't pulled in any fashion since then. I'll do a proper reset when I return in two weeks.

[Bill Anders]

As the title says, I've been away from the weights for 2.5 weeks. Prior to that was just 2 maintenance workouts after a 1.5 week break due to family emergency. So a no-joke 10% reset is in order across the lifts.

The downside is that I have just one week before I'm off again for 1.5 weeks. That break, plus the one I just finished, were planned, so I'm not bothered with them. If anything, they're the reason why I lift (see below).

IMG_20210708_204454.jpg

The top view is of a 60' tree that is leaning over a popular Wilderness trail in northeastern Washington in such a way that not only did it hinder hikers, but equestrians. Being that it is in the Wilderness, we are not allowed to use power tools. Instead, we use the logging tools of old - 2-man saws, etc., so this tree had to be dropped manually by a 3-person team that I led. The bottom view is "after." All told, in 3.5 days, a team of 9 cleared 86 trees from ~15 miles of trail just as the massive heat wave was setting in.

[David Hooper]

Saw your comment on my log, but it's more fitting to reply here. :-) Great work on that trail! That had to be a lot of fun.

Good luck on the short return to weights. Hopefully the heavy work you've been doing in your 'fun' time will keep the DOMS away!