Lifting to Live

[Fred J]

Hot (100F @ 15%)

Yeah but it's a dry heat!!

[Bill Anders]

Yeah but it's a dry heat!!

It's a beautiful thing.

[Fred J]

It has not been ideal but the last two evenings has been ok here. Last night I visited my daughter and son in law and we sat on their front porch and tonight I just got in from washing my truck with zero sweat so things aren't too bad here for the moment.

[Bill Anders]

See, that's those great evenings down there, a treat in August. Sitting on the porch, watching the fireflies do their thing (we don't have them on this side of the hills).

[Fred J]

The hummingbirds were out too. It was great to spend time with them. I am deeply missing my other daughter as I write this. So much my chest actually hurts from it. Sucks! Take care.

[Bill Anders]

We do love those hummingbirds. Hopefully you can see some of your daughter's beauty in them as you miss her. It's not right, as none of us should lose a child, but I do hope that you can find some solace in the good memories you hold of her.

[Bill Anders]

8/19/22 - Friday

DL - H @ 8'
65x5x3 pc
135x4 pc
185x2
225x1
275x1
305x1 h
335x5 s
310x5 s

SQ L @ 5'
45x5x2
95x5 p
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
245x1
270x5x3

Music — Squidhammer vs Pantera, Cowboys From Hell; Upon A Burning Body vs Pantera, 5 Minutes Alone; Throwdown vs Pantera, Becoming.

Notes —
- DL - Heavy Day with 93% backoff set. Initially I had programmed a +10lb jump for this cycle that would have given me 340x5 today, but based on everything else this week, I dropped back to +5lbs, which was a good call. I couldn't have pulled one more 335 (rep #5 was quite slow to lockout), and likely would have struggled to pull 3 at 340. Odd tightness in the right hamstring on the way up for each rep, with a little bit of popping as it shifted back into place (no pain, just a distraction). Not a normal occurrence for me. The backoff set went fine, although not as easy as a 310x5 should feel, which means that it was a good backoff set. All good.
- SQ - Light Day. Warmups interrupted by a phone call from the gig boss, so we spent some time covering scheduling. Luckily this was a light day, although it never feels that way after heavy deads. And they lived up to that. All good.

[Bill Anders]

8/22/22 - Monday

OP H @ 5'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
125x1
140x1
152x.5x3x4
152.5x2, 2, 2, 0, 0

BP L @ 5'
45x5x2
95x3
135x1
175x1
205x5x3

Music — Exodus, Bonded By Blood; Slayer, South Of Heaven; Testament, Disciples Of The Watch; Megadeth, Holy Wars (The Punishment Is Due); Suicidal Tendencies, You Can't Bring Me Down.

Notes —
- OP - Heavy Triples programmed. First set, first rep stalled at eye level, reset, second rep got above the head and stalled (although that might have been more a push press), reset, third rep got to eye level. That was it. Looked at the bar and realized that I had loaded 162.5lbs (10lbs too heavy, with 10s instead of 5s, a full 20lbs over last week's 142.5x5x4-ish). Reset to 152.5 and tried again. First set, I was probably in my head, as #2 stalled on the way up, but I pressed it out, then #3 stuck at forehead level. This should have been a straightforward 4x3 PR, but it was turning into a shit show. And so it went, with doubles, not the programmed triples, and then to the 0's, which after the second goose-egg I called it, even though it means that I only got half the volume at this weight that I had programmed. Two options here, as the answers to The First Three Questions are satisfactory (although, due to time constraints, I started my workout much closer to waking up/soon after fueling by a couple of hours than normal), 1). drop to 1lb jumps each cycle; or 2). decrease the +10lb jumps between weeks during the cycle. I know that the latter is the correct response. The reality was that I was getting greedy chasing rep PR's, but I'm also experimenting with this 4-Day Heavy/Light Split. I may just have to accept that a +5-7.5lb jump each week is still a significant jump for this lift. The tough part is knowing for sure, as I have a trip planned during the second and third week of the next cycle.
- BP - Light Day. And these sure felt a lot heavier than they should have, especially after having a 4-day break since my last heavy BPs. Perhaps something else is going on. But whatever, onward!

[J. Killmond]

5-7.5lb jumps each week seems like a lot for the press, although I wouldn't read too much into your post-misload experience. You might be able to take the long view with more pressing and smaller jumps. Have you considered getting into the garage for extra pressing, maybe even during the winter season. Pressing doesn't really have to be split. It just doesn't take that much out of you--four press workouts in a week is nothing like two squat workouts, mentally, physically or time commitment-wise.

[Bill Anders]

8/23/22 - Tuesday

SQ H @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3 p
185x1 p
225x1 p
265x1 p
295x1
325x3x4 4x3 PR

Chins 7, 7, 7.

Music — Joy Division, Interzone; Testament, Reign Of Terror; Slayer, Expendable Youth; Minor Youth, Seeing Red.
Notes —
- SQ - Heavy Triples. I'm not going to lie, my head was not in a positive space for this after yesterday's Press fiasco, even though I now know definitively that the failure was a result of that misload of +10lbs over the programmed weight and the three full-on grind attempts to get it. Even today's 265x1 warmup rep felt real heavy, which didn't help. Regardless, I knew that the first set would feel rough, because that's the set that always lies. It felt rough, but not too bad. And the rest went fine. I even had my bride watch set #2 and she said that rep 3 might have garnered a single red light as it was the shallowest of the three, perhaps borderline, but otherwise good. I was glad to get that head crap behind me.
- Chins - Good chins. The total is now >20, so now it's time to consider adding weight.