5/27/22 - Friday
SQ @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
260x1
285x5x2
OP @ 5'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
120x1
134x5x3
PC @ 3'
65x5x2
85x3
105x1
120x1
135x1
150x3x5
Music — The Beatles, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (which came up right as I started the app and immediately made me think of the brilliant tribute at George Harrison's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction). Top Picks from SiriusXM Liquid Metal's Corridor of Covers, Southern Sludge, 5/19/22 — Slayer vs Dr Know, Mr Freeze; Crowbar vs Gary Wright, Dream Weaver; Immortal Suffering vs Acid Bath, Cheap Vodka; Buzzov*en vs E.L.O., Don't Bring Me Down; Weedeater vs Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gimme Back My Bullets.
Notes — Coming off of another travel break, seeing family that we haven't seen since "before times." The whole visit we stayed just over a mile away from an actual SS gym and drove past it several times, but never prioritized popping in to have a look around. We returned home and I planned on resuming training yesterday, but popped positive for the dreaded respiratory illness*. So I shifted everything to today, which gave the fever a chance to break overnight, and dropped a set (or two) off of the programmed SQ and OP to deal with it, keeping intensity but cutting volume. I have another planned break coming up that I need to make sure that I am recovered from this crud, so no sense in pushing things too hard while I am still in maintenance mode.
- SQ - Same weight as last time (5/15/22) and had 4x5 programmed, but changed to 2x5 to conserve volume. These two sets went fine, but I could feel that the original 4x5 would not have happened.
- OP - Added +1lb over last time (5/13/22) and had 4x5 programmed, but changed to 3x5 to conserve volume. They went fine, although the lack of frequency meant searching for the groove a bit more than usual.
- PC - No change from last time (5/13/22), as this is my light pull and isn't overly stressful. All finished, although my pull on most was slow, evidenced by the bar bouncing off of my sternum before I had a chance to get under it. Perhaps that as the crud taking toll, as I don't usually have that issue at this weight.
* For those about to ask, this was the first time ever that I've taken a test for the dreaded respiratory illness. But I was running a fever and my bride was about to head into work, where, as a massage therapist, she had a handful of clients schedule that are in their 70's and 80s, and we'd like for her to see them see their 80's and 90's, so a quick home test gave me the info I needed. Then the bride had the same result. We're both fine, just working through the crud and an occasional cough.
Thanks Fred. All is well, as it wasn't much more than a standard upper respiratory issue for a day or so, but we're both back to normal now. Out of respect for others, we're still keeping our distance for another few days, but our schedule allows that anyway.
Bill, We had been tested for what my Dad would call "the Creeping Crud" several times with home tests. It was always negative until just before Easter. The Devil is a tricky fellow. We were quarantined for 3 weeks. The last week with two negative tests. We coughed a few times, had no fever, and weren't even especially tired. Now back to normal. It's been a nuisance for the most part but not much else.
Last edited by carson; 05-29-2022 at 05:02 PM.
carson, "the Creeping Crud" is exactly what we call of these sorts of things. I picked that up from my Dad too, I think. And you're right, it's a nuisance, and thankfully that's all it is for us. We know of many others where that wasn't the case. Glad that you two are doing well!
5/29/22 - Sunday
SQ L @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
260x5x2
BP @ 5'
45x5x2
95x3 p
135x1 p
175x1 p
195x1
212x5x3 212x2+1 + 190x5x2
HDL @ 8'
65x5x3 pc
135x4 dl
185x2 dl
225x1 dl
275x1
305x8 straps
Music — Top picks from SiriusXM Liquid Metal's Corridor of Covers, Listener Takeover, Memorial Day Edition, 5/26/22 - Carnifex vs Slipknot, The Heretic Anthem; Between The Buried & Me vs Soundgarden, The Day I Tried To Live; Type O Negative vs Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath; Howling Giant vs Alice In Chains, Rooster.
Notes — As noted above, we're quickly on the mend from the dreaded respiratory virus, but not 100% (see below).
- SQ - A fair bit of DOMS from Friday's session, mainly in the adductors. But this was a Light Day, so no impact. All good.
- BP - Initially programmed as a 4x5, but dropped one set to keep this a lighter day. This will likely be the last creeping crud inspired modification to decrease any volume on the lifts for the coming week+ before my next planned break. But then again, maybe not. First set, second rep mis-grooved but saved, followed by a third rep that stuck a few inches off the chest. I reset the bar, crawled under and repeated #3 a bit more smoothly, while #4 stalled at the same point while no amount of prompting got the elbows to rise to get the bar moving. Perhaps I'm a bit more drained than I thought, or it could just be the lack of training on this lift lately. Or both. Dropped to 90% and those sets went smoothly and strongly.
- HDL - Worked through the warmups, feeling increasingly drained. So instead of my normal attempting all workset reps with hook grip, I strapped up. A good tempo workset that slowed quickly for the last few reps, but all good.
5/31/22 - Tuesday
SQ M @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
270x5x3
OP I @ 1'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
125x1
141x1x5
BP I @ 1'
45x5x2
95x3 p
135x1 p
175x1 p
205x1
227x1x5 227x1,x,x + 215x1x3+x
Chins @ 5' — 4, 4, 3.
Music — Top picks from SiriusXM Liquid Metal's Bloody Roots, Roots of 1980s Punk/Metal Crossover, 5/28/22 (repeat of 1/29/22) — S.O.D., United Forces; D.R.I., Snap; Suicidal Tendencies, War Inside My Head; Circle Jerks*, American Heavy Metal Weekend.
Notes —
- SQ - Medium Day. All good. These felt a hell of a lot better than my Light day 2x5 on Sunday. The creeping crud is in the rearview mirror.
- OP - Intensity Day, same as 5/11/22. Solid heavy singles. All good.
- BP - Intensity Day, same as 5/11/22. Plenty of DOMS from Sunday's struggle-fest, with enough tightness that by my 175x1 warmup rep, I had serious concerns about tearing something, but the 205x1 felt much better. The first heavy single was tight and smooth. The second stuck just a few inches off the chest, then again after a full re-rack/reset. Dropped to 215, which seemed much heavier than it should have. Got through three singles, but the fourth (last one) stuck in the same spot. I'm not too concerned about this development, considering the lack of frequency and intensity over the past few months. This is just part of the expected backward slide of the maintenance season.
- Chins - A return to chins for a medium pull, which I haven't done since October 2021. No excuses, I just haven't programmed them even though I know that they are beneficial for presses, etc. These were ugly, as expected.
*I can still see the look on my Mom's face that Saturday afternoon in 1985 when she asked what band I was going to see that night and I told her. Priceless memory.
6/2/22 - Thursday
SQ @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
260x1
290x5x4
OP @ 5'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
120x1
135x5x4
PC @ 3'
65x5x2
85x3
105x1
120x1
140x1
155x3x5
Music — Top picks from SiriusXM 1st Wave's Billy Idol's Live Transmission, Talks w/ Dennis Morris, pt 2, 5/24/22 — Generation X, Wild Youth; Public Image Ltd., Public Image. Then randomly - Van Halen, Unchained.
Notes — The creeping crud is verifiably behind me. That means that it's back to the regularly scheduled seasonal crud. So really, no different than a week ago when the creeping crud was verified, minus the minor fever for a few hours that prompted the initial verification.
- SQ - Volume-ish day. All good, and solid enough that I thought about making it a 5x5 for a moment. But I have other plans and deviating from the programming is rarely one of them.
- OP - Volume-ish day. I really didn't find the groove until my fourth set and even then, the last rep was a slow-ish grind. Locking out that rep was a bit surprising, since during my first set I had doubts about even doing a fourth set. All good.
- PC - Much better than last week's 150x3x5 (no surprise), although there were a couple of ugly ones.