Lifting to Live

[Bill Anders]

2/26/22 - Saturday

SQ @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
275x1
305x5
275x5x2

RDL @ 5'
65x10x2
135x4
185x2
225x5x2

Music — Top picks from SiriusXM - Liquid Metal's Bloody Roots, Roots of Speed Metal, 2/19/22 - Dio, I Speed At Night; Judas Priest, Pain Killer.

Notes — The lower back tightness was barely noticeable yesterday and this morning. Until I put on my socks to lift.
- SQ - With the tightness, I started rethinking my programmed 305x5 w/ 2x5 90% backoffs. As I approached 275 during the warmups, I thought about just making that a 3x5. But what kind of thinking is that? The first 3 reps of 305 went nice and smooth, with probably a bit too much depth. Then #4, for some reason I lost tightness in the hole, which made for a long drive to lockout, immediately followed by an overcompensated rep #5, where I got the bar out over my toes, making for a real grindy rise to lockout. After that, the 275x5x2 sure felt good.
- RDL - With my lower back tightness, I wanted to get some work in that area, but nothing limit-pushing. The 135x8 RDLs that I did right after the tweak on Thursday felt good, so I decided to throw these in today on top of what was originally programmed as solely a Squat day. The temptation was to overdo it with 225x8x2, but I fought that temptation. All good. I even fought the temptation afterwards to clean the 135 up to the hooks to get the bar in position for the next Press session.

[Bill Anders]

Sorry to read of the back tweak Bill.

Greed is a hard issue to deal with, whether it's for reps or volume.

When I first tweaked my back, it manifested itself just as yours did...boy did that suck.

I'm glad I have a coach on site, who can see how I'm handling the days weight, and adjusts things appropriately when needed. As I've said on my log, he's being very conservative these days. Had I been left to my own devices, I would have been trying to push things beyond what's necessary to make progress.

Thanks, Browndog.

I typically get them when my Squat and Deadlift get too close, so this situation is a good learning experience for future "maintenance" seasons.

Having a SS coach nearby would be great. The closest is ~4hrs away for in-person. I just haven't pulled the trigger on remote coaching, especially since I'm so inconsistent, by choice, throughout the year.

[Bill Anders]

3/1/22 - Tuesday

SQ @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
275x1 p
310x5
280x5x2

OP I @ 1'
45x5x2
75x3
105x1
125x1
144x1x5

BP I @ 1'
45x5x2
95x3 p
135x1 p
175x1 p
205x1
230x1x5

Music — Top picks from SiriusXM's 1st Wave Dark Wave, 2/27/22 — Japan, Vogue; Love and Rockets, Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man); C.C.C.P., American Soviets; Front 242, Special Forces.

Notes —
- SQ - Thankfully, little-to-no lower back tightness the past couple of days going into this session. The 310x5 reminded me that it's getting into the heavy range, but no outright grinds and no questionable reps. Silly brain kicked in and I thought about a second 310 set, but knew that 90% backoffs were sufficient for now. Those went fine too.
- OP - All good, nice and smooth.
- BP - All good, nice and smooth. Except for #5, which was an epic train wreck to lockout. I lost focus for some odd reason, mis-grooved, bounced it off the uprights on the way up, grazed the right J-cup, then locked it out under control before racking it. I wish I had a video of it.

[Mr. Bingley]

The Jazz Sabbath is awesome. The video is a pale Rutles knock-off, but man is the music great!

[Bill Anders]

The Jazz Sabbath is awesome. The video is a pale Rutles knock-off, but man is the music great!

I'm glad that you liked it. I am looking forward to their next release.

And thanks for the Rutles reminder!

[Bill Anders]

3/9/22 - Wednesday

OP @ 5'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
115x1
130x5x3

BP @ 5'
45x5x2
95x3 p
135x1 p
175x1 p
195x1
208x5x3

Music — Top picks from SiriusXMs Liquid Metal, Corridor of Covers, Women of Heavy Metal, 3/3/22 - Battle Beast vs W.A.S.P., Wild Child; Beyond The Black vs Iron Maiden, The Trooper; Frayle vs Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire*.

Notes — Eight days since the last session, which included Intensity OP & BP. I was out of state on a winter vacay, intending on getting some snowboarding in and fishing with friends. This winter has been sorely lacking almost everywhere, so I didn't do any snowboarding. But I did spend a few days on the water, frequently dipping the rod in the water to get the ice out of the guides and thaw out my fingers, then keeping the line tight pulling in quite a few brown and rainbow trout, most of which are still alive today. Just a couple are thawing out in the fridge right now.
- OP - Only a slight 2lb (2%) reset for this 3x5. Each set was a smooth quick tempo. I probably could have done without that slight reset, but I'm not in a rush to get anywhere with these, other that upwards as life allows.
- BP - Similar slight reset of 2lb (1%) for this 3x5. Not a quick tempo'd as the presses, but all went well.

* Normally I wouldn't include a RoF cover, since it's so overdone. However, Frayle really made this song their own.

[Bill Anders]

3/10/22 - Thursday

SQ - L @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
250x5x2

RP @ 8'
135x4
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1 hook
350x5 straps

Music — Top picks from SiriusXM Liquid Metal's Bloody Roots, Roots of Black History in Metal, 2/26/22 - Hirax, El Diablo Negro; Znowhite, Bringing The Hammer Down; Body Count/Riley Gale, Point The Finger.

Notes —
- SQ - Light sets just to get that movement flowing again after a 9-day break. No surprises, all good.
- RP - Almost a month since my last successful Rack Pulls (390x5 on 2/11/22), so this deserved a proper reset. It ended up being a smooth x5 that probably could have gone +10-15lbs, but it has been awhile, on top of the lower back issues I was having before this last break. So the reset to where I am is just fine.

[Bill Anders]

3/11/22 - Friday

OP I @ 1'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
125x1
142x1x5

BP I @ 1'
45x5x2
95x3 p
135x1 p
175x1 p
205x1
228x1x5

Music — Song source/channel roulette — Guns n Roses, Live and Let Die (my all-time favorite Wings tune, done pretty darn well by GnR); Soul II Soul f/ Caron Wheeler, Back to Life; Tech N9ne f/ Krizz Kaliko, No Can Do.

Notes —
- OP - Ten days after the last Intensity Press session, these should have given me more trouble than they did. I followed Wednesday's lead and only reset 2lbs (1.4%), but unlike Wednesday, these are closer to my season highs for this lift. But all went well.
- BP - Same, with a 2lb (1%) reset, but that's more manageable with this lift than the Press. Yet it rarely feels as smooth. All went well.

[Bill Anders]

3/12/22 - Saturday

SQ @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
275x1
300x5
270x5x2

DL @ 5'
65x10 RDLs
135x4
185x2
225x1
250x1
280x5

Music — Song source/channel roulette — Anthrax, Keep It In The Family; Author & Punisher, Terrorbird; Nine Inch Nails, March Of The Pigs; Front Line Assembly, Killing Grounds.

Notes — Toasty warm today, touching 57°F. It's too early for that.
- SQ - Slight reset, 10lbs (3%) since the last heavy squat 11 days ago (310x5 + 280x5x2 on 3/1/22). The 300x5 was manageable, but reps 3-5 I was ending up a big forward on the drive back up for some reason. Unfortunately, no video to watch and figure it out*. The backoffs went fine.
- DL - After Friday's Rack Pulls, I wanted to do a light pull today and scribbled in 280x8 Haltings. Then I thought about how it has been three months since my last actual deadlift workset (345x5 on 12/8/21)—even though I've done deadlift singles at this weight as part of my haltings warmup—and the purpose of today's light day, which was just to keep the hips loose. So this Deadlift workset has less tonnage than the planned haltings, but is full ROM. All good.

* SQ workset issue - as I was doing my backoff sets, I think I figured it out. I think I set up too close to the rack for the first rep of that set, and I stayed more upright than I should. So I stepped back before the second rep and while doing so, I must have loosened up, letting the bar move up a hair before tightening the lats for the rest of the set. Again, no video, so that's the conjecture, but I did not have the issue during the backoff sets, when I made sure to get back from the uprights.

[Browndog]

In no particular order:

Trout for breakfast is a wonderful thing. (trout cheeks are a delicacy, but you need to pull a lot of trout out during a hatch to make them worthwhile)

Where is the bar in relation to your knees at the start of your rack pulls?

Never a big Wings fan...meh.