Lifting to Live

[carson]

Some believe that the OHP is Satanic or of the devil. I have felt that way sometimes but I'm committed to doing so many reps of the lift that the total form will become second nature...sort of. Best wishes for your success on this lift.

Regarding music while lifting. I really don't care until I get to my top lifts on the dead. Then only "We are the Champions" and "We will Rock you" do me any good and that at top volume. The nose gay (ammonia) helps as well.

[Bill Anders]

Some believe that the OHP is Satanic or of the devil. I have felt that way sometimes but I'm committed to doing so many reps of the lift that the total form will become second nature...sort of. Best wishes for your success on this lift.

Regarding music while lifting. I really don't care until I get to my top lifts on the dead. Then only "We are the Champions" and "We will Rock you" do me any good and that at top volume. The nose gay (ammonia) helps as well.

I do feel sorry for anyone who believes that about the OHP. Each time I run through my sets, I get better, even if I fail a rep. The reasoning for the grip that Sully described in his video makes sense. I just have to retrain my brain to trust it. I imagine he has coached y'all similarly.

I like having the music on in the background. The DJ's that I listen to have been in the music industry for decades and I enjoy hearing their stories and experiences about the songs that they play. Recently I've started taking the speaker into the house during my work sets on all of the lifts, so for those lifts its just me, the weight, and me focusing on technique. It seems to be working so far, but I do like your choice of tunes for your top deads.

And thanks for the laugh with "nose gay." I hadn't heard that description.

[Bill Anders]

4/30/21 - Friday

SQ - H
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x5x3

BP
95x5
145x3
190x5x3

DL - M
225x5
275x3
315x1
330x1

Music - SiriusXM Liquid Metal Takeover by Joe Duplantier (Gojira) - Sphinx, off Gojira's new album Fortitude released today. After that, I was all over the place - Notorious B.I.G., Audioslave, Woody Guthrie, et al.

Going into today's workout, I had some concerns since I did a poor job of recovering this week. Fueling and sleep were good, but Sunday I was on a crew cutting in and shaping a short section of flow track/trail, then Tuesday was a 9+ mile hike with around 2,000' of elevation gain and Thursday I led a trail crew uphill of where we were on Sunday as we cut in over 100 yards of new trail in a very rooty area (tough digging). That trail will be used by hikers, bikers, and equestrians once we get it all done, although we see clues that some folks are getting a jump on it. Anyway, as I was tying on my boots Thursday morning, I could feel hints of the volume in my lower left back, and that was before the digging. This morning I could feel it just getting out of bed and I really felt it after each squat set. It might make for an interesting weekend. But no matter, I'll be lifting heavy on Monday.

[Bill Anders]

5/3/21 - Monday

SQ - LP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
255x1
280x5x3

OP - LP
45x5
75x3
105x1
132.5x5x3 nope Actually 132.5x5+132.5x4+132.5x3+132.5+132.5+0

DL - H
225x5
275x3
315x1
330x5

Music - System of a Down Suite-Pee, Anthrax Caught in a Mosh, and Slayer Stain of Mind (Live).

Notes
Odd day overall, although nothing that should have impacted the workout. Recovery since Friday has been good.
- Squat was a grind, each and every one, but by wife spotted depth and called good on each (she lifts and knows what to look for), noting that I was gong a bit too deep on a couple of them.
- Press. I made the mistake of reading the Press chapter in the Blue Book today, then tried to correct too many things at once, which really screwed with my focus. I'm in x5 PR territory for this lift and the last time I was approaching one plate on this lift, I was doing 3x5, not 5x3. I'll give 132.5x5x3 a few more tries before thinking about modifying anything.
- DL. All good. After the Press, I asked my wife to spot/count/scream. It worked.

[Bill Anders]

5/5/21 - Wednesday

SQ - L
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
250x5x3

BP - LP
95x5
145x3
175x1
192.5x5x3

PC - L
65x5
85x3
110x1
135x3x5

Chins - 10, 10, 10

Music - Top choices from SiriusXM, Ozzy's Boneyard, Duff McKagan's Three Chords and the Truth, 4/30/21 - The Exploited Dead Cities & Overkill Skull & Bones.

Notes
- SQ - For a light day, the bar sure felt heavy unracking and stepping back. But they went fine, as they should on a light day.
- BP - good all around.
- PC - good all around. After my first rep in my third set, I remembered Steve Ross' article from Monday on Lats in the Deadlift, so I followed those steps. Holy cow, the bar came up the shins so fast, it surprised me and I ended up back on my heels before the rack, but not so much that I couldn't save it. I did the rest of my reps with that technique. What a game changer. I'm looking forward to trying it with the DLs.

[Bill Anders]

5/7/21 - Friday

SQ - LP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
255x1
285x5x3

OP - LP
45x5
75x3
105x1
132.5x5x3
125
115x5x3

DL - M
225x5
275x3
315x1
335x1

Music - Top choices from SiriusXM, Liquid Metal's Corridor of Covers, Facebook Takeover Week 1, 5/6/21 - Slayer vs Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (which always makes me think of Reverend Lovejoy of The Simpsons, "wait a second, that sounds like rock and/or roll" after Bart slipped the sheet music into the church organist's stack and into the hymnal); Weedeater vs Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gimme Back My Bullets (great sludgy version).

Notes
Received shot #2 yesterday, woke up with a hangover (not alcohol-related), that was likely a combination of mostly sinus issues ('tis the season) and perhaps a bit of the shot. Even by mid-afternoon, running slightly feverish, but that's not an excuse to get under the bar.
SQ - All good. Not the grind that I was expecting.
OP - Fail #2 at this weight, but considering the note above, I'm not spending any time worrying about it. Both the 132.5 and 125 stuck right at the forehead, 115s sailed up to lockout throughout the sets.
DL - Focusing on Steve Ross' tip (see previous entry), although it's a bit different with mixed grip (above 300lbs right now). The 275 with double overhand sailed up comfortably.

Overall, good. The Press issues aren't concerning me (yet). I'm still tweaking form issues, which are coming together. I think that's why the 115x5x3 sailed. 132.5x5x3 will be mine next week.

[Bill Anders]

5/10/21 - Monday

SQ - LP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
260x1
290x5x3

BP - LP
95x5
145x3
175x1
195x5x3

DL - H
225x5
275x3
315x1
335x5


Music - Top choices from SiriusXM, Liquid Metal's Bloody Roots, Metal Live Albums, 5/1/21 - Iron Maiden's Aces High (Live) & Slayer's Die by the Sword (Live), both nostalgia recordings from my yoot. Yes, I said yoot.

Notes
Morning training session due to scheduling. I typically lift late afternoon, so it was a rush to get moving, fueled and lifting.
- SQ - good all around. Nothing of note.
- BP - working on leg drive. Messed up timing on the first set, but still managed to push through. Better timing on sets 2 & 3.
- DL - solid overall. While Friday's 275 warmup double overhand cruised up, I barely held rep 2 and had to switch to hook grip for rep 3 at that weight. It's funny how much grip will fluctuate. A few weeks ago I was comfortably pulling double overhand up to 300lbs.

Now to really focus on recovery. That Press 132.5x5x3 will be mine on Wednesday!

[Bill Anders]

5/12/21 - Wednesday

SQ - L
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
250x5x3

OP - LP
45x5
75x3
105x1
132.5x5x3
132.5x4
132.5x3x4

PC - L
65x5
85x3
110x1
140x3x5

Chins
10, 10, 10

Music - Top choices from SiriusXM, Ozzy's Boneyard, Duff McKagan's Three Chords and the Truth, 5/7/21 - None. Not a single selection from this milquetoast episode, so it was channel-hopping after that — Tool, Lateralus & Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige, Can't Knock the Hustle

Notes
- SQ - It's funny how these "light" squat days do not feel light. I still felt Monday's lifts, so these were welcome, which is, of course, the purpose.
- OP - Another go at 132.5x5x3. First set, the fifth rep stuck right at eye level. I was able to hold it there for a 5-count, but it wasn't budging beyond that. Switched to sets of 3 to finish this out. Now the decision has to be made - reset, or progress with 3x5s. I've been at this point before with my press, so the logical thing is to not reset and milk the 3x5s as long as possible before switching this programming to intermediate. <kicks sand, "but I don't wanna">
- PC - moving along nicely.

The fun surprise today was head out to the rack and find the bench in the rack backwards with the head out, which I know I had put in the rack on Monday head to the wall. I checked my wife's log and she had a workout logged from yesterday! She has a physical job, so she drops the training over the winter, where our snowboarding keeps us beat up enough, then resumes training each spring. It looks like she has begun for 2021.

[Bill Anders]

5/14/21 - Friday

SQ - LP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
260x1
295x5x3

BP - LP
95x5
145x3
175x1
197.5x5x3
197.5x4, 4, 4, 3

DL - M
225x5
275x3
315x1
340x1

Music - Top choices from SiriusXM, Liquid Metal's Corridor of Covers, Facebook Takeover Week 2, 5/13/21 - Ministry vs ZZ Top, Just Got Paid (two of my more favorite bands to see live) + Type O Negative vs Santana, Evil Ways/Oyo Como Va/Black Magic Woman.

Notes
- SQ - getting heavy on reps 4&5 of each set, but I haven't had any doubts creeping in yet. So onward and upward.
- BP - First set, rep 5 just would not go; same with sets 2 & 3. The 4th rep would feel good, the 5th would come off the bottom, then stick a few inches off the chest. I wasn't expecting this, as 195 went just fine on Monday. I realized (too late) that I hadn't pushed carbs today, so I'll give this one a go again on Wednesday. It's likely that I'm in a similar spot as I am with the Press, which makes sense compared to past years' LPs - had I pushed as prescribed today, that would have been an all-time 5x3 PR for the bench and on Wednesday's Press, had I pushed as prescribed, I would have tied my all-time 5x3 PR for that lift. Time for me to suck it up and acknowledge that things need to change.
- DL - This is where I really starting thinking about carbs. For this Medium day on the pull, I just pull one intensity rep that will be my x5 next Monday. It pulled fine, but I had my doubts that I'd have been able to pull a standard 305x5 (-10% of Monday's heavy set). I know I have some work to do.

[Bill Anders]

5/17/21 - Monday

SQ - LP
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x1
300x5x3

OP - LP
45x5
75x3
105x1
135x5x3 (2, 3, 3, 4, 3)

DL - H
225x5
275x3
315x1
340x5 (3)

Music - Top choices from SirusXM, 1st Wave Billy Idol's Live Transmission, Artists in Multiple Bands (Part 2), 5/11/21 - Siouxsie and the Banshees, Spellbound (John McGeoch, guitarist - Magazine, S&TB, Visage, Public Image Ltd), and Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Get Down Moses (Joe Strummer, guitarist - The Clash, solo, Big Audio Dynamite, JS&tM, etc.).

Notes
After Friday's struggle with the bench press, I realized that I had slacked on my carbohydrate intake that day, so I made sure to compensate for that over the weekend and this morning. However, my normal Saturday/Sunday schedule was not the recovery that it normally is, as I spent Saturday helping scout and mark a new hiking/biking/equestrian trail in one of our local parks, and Sunday was spent clearing a different trail corridor with crosscut saws, just like your great grandpa would have. Both days happened to be the warmest of the year thus far.
- SQ - These went great. A solid 3 sets, and it's great to get back into the 300s again.
- OP - After a few attempts at 132.5, I followed the advice that Nick Delgadillo gave in his Press and Bench Press Programming - Getting and Staying Unstuck video. I added 2.5lbs as usual and worked with the goal of 5x3, but in case that didn't work, get as many sets as close to 5 reps as I could. The weight felt fine, but I mis-grooved rep #3 on the first set. After that it was press as many as I could each set until I got the volume. My 4th set felt completely in the groove and 4 came pretty easily, but 5 wasn't to be. I'm not mad though, as 135x5x3 would have been an all-time PR, which means I have work to do.
- DL - The warmups were fine, with no issues. I suspect that I was rushing my setup and it caught up to me by rep #4. It broke, but wouldn't go further than just below mid-shin, even pushing the earth for a 5 count. After that, it wouldn't break the ground. Even 315 wouldn't break the ground. So I'll try again next week. Again, not mad, considering the weekend's activities.