Week of 6 March 2023
Overview — I was traveling again, another couple of weeks with my son and his new family, helping them get settled into a new life with the granddaughter. I knew that I wouldn't be consistent, nor did I plan to be. For the presses I was in my son's basement, where I was limited by the available weights and ceiling clearance. Luckily I had access to a nearby gym to get the heavy stuff done, but I also didn't want to spend too much time there as it wasn't my priority.
3/6/23 - Seated Press - 135x5x3
3/7/23 - Heavy Squats - 360x1x5 + 320x5x2
3/9/23 - Bench Press (Light Volume) - 160x5x5 (I did each of these on one breath, just because)
3/10/23 - Rack Pull - 405x5
Notes —
- Seated Press - First time doing these, which were necessary due to lack of ceiling clearance. Having to keep these strict made it a fair bit more difficult than the standard standing press movement.
- Heavy Squats - First session in the gym, which was well appointed. Based on the looks I was getting, I suspect I broke the unspoken rules by turning around to face away from the mirror and lifting a hell of a lot more than the young guns in the racks next to me.
- Bench Press - same as seated press, I was limited by the son's weight collection. So while he was doing work on his computer, I cranked out a bunch of single-breath sets. Afterwards, I set the rack up to show him how to do rack pulls and address some back issues that he's had.
- Rack Pull - back at the gym, with a new crop of people trying to figure out what the old guy was doing. It was fun to pull this 405x5 while the twenty-somethings were pulling 225's.
I'm back home now, with a full schedule over the next few days. So I might not get much done in the rack, but that's the way it goes.
3/20/23 - Monday
OP H @ 5'
45x5x3
75x3
105x1
125x1
140x5x3
BP L @ 3'
45x5x2
95x3
135x2
185x1
205x5x3
Music — Arch Enemy vs Judas Priest, Breaking The Law; Arch Enemy vs Megadeth, Symphony Of Destruction; Heriot vs Machine Head, Ten Ton Hammer; Kittie vs Pink Floyd, Run Like Hell; Frayle vs Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire (Live); Magg Dylan vs Alanis Morisette, You Oughta Know.
Notes —
- OP - Heavy sets across, a 94% reset from the last time I was able to do heavy sets across three weeks ago. It might be a bit too much of a reset, but considering that this is my maintenance season and I have more interruptions coming, it's fine. A fair bit wobbly throughout, evidence of my lack of frequency, but all good.
- BP - Light sets across. I worked the warmups in during the OP work sets. Similar to the OP sets, wobbly but good. The third set cruised like I had been doing them all along.
3/21/23 - Tuesday
SQ H @ 5'
45x10x3
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
265x1
295x1
330x5x3 PR
Music — CeDell Davis, She's Got The Devil In Her; Elton John, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting; Bolt Thrower, Remembrance.
Notes — This may, or may not, be the beginning of my warm month training. The mountains are still open for a few weeks and there's plenty of snow to play for another couple of months, but the way this winter has been, I've already made the mental break. I still need to look at some things and figure it out.
- SQ - "Heavy" sets across. The quotations are because 325x5x2 was my last heavy squat workout, but those were my backoff sets after a 360x1x5 main workset two weeks ago. So the smart thing to do is just start working back up from those warmup sets. As expected, the first set was a brutal grind, enough that I entertained the thought of backing off for the next two sets. But I also know better. The second set was slightly better. And the third was another brutal grind, but it all got done. I just may not be able to walk tomorrow, based on how my adductors already feel. But the realization, just as I was about to post, that this was a 3x5 PR just may dull the pain.
Note 2 - The warmup row and warmup sets took too long. My bride decided to sit down and watch "Lost In Translation" so I was sidetracked often. Too many laughs and memories for us in that movie, as we were living in Tokyo when it was released and had a great time, along with a theater full of expatriates, laughing at all the truisms. It still holds up.
Thanks Fred. It was a surprise, as I have been very inconsistent lately (as expected, considering that it's maintenance season).
3/23/23 - Thursday
BP H @ 5'
45x5x3
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x5x3
OP L @ 3'
45x5x2
75x3
105x1
125x5x3
Music — Big Audio Dynamite, Rush; Big Audio Dynamite, E=MC²; The Cult, She Sells Sanctuary; The Cult, Love Removal Machine.
Notes —
- BP - Heavy sets across. Better than it should have been, considering that I last benched Heavy (220x5x3) on 3/2/23, three weeks ago, with only one session above 200lbs since (205x5x3 on Monday, 3/20/23). So by all accounts, I shouldn't have been able to press these out, but they were never in doubt. And they matched my BP 3x5 PR, set on 2/12/23. They will only get better once I get some consistency again.
- OP - Light sets across. All good.