End of 2021 log

[CommanderFun]

Friday 1/28/2022

Deadlift 405x5
Squat 230x5x2

Got in there a couple hours before the snowstorm was set to start. Cut it short on the light squat sets to get out fast. 405 deadlift, I'm back on the board again. Did not have that beat up feeling at all today despite higher weights. The zoloft was definitely the candidate. I wonder if I can get off it entirely and see even further improvement in my workouts.

[CommanderFun]

Monday 1/31/2022

Weigh-in: 285.8 pounds

Bench 220x5x3
Press 117.5x5x3
Lying Triceps Extension 80x10,10,8

Bench felt really good today. Wrists were sore from all the shoveling over the weekend. Really showed up in the light presses. Hopefully they'll feel better come thursday. Managed one more rep on the LTEs. Weight's a bit up, but I had almost a whole pizza yesterday. I wanted to eat big to help offset all the shoveling I did.

[CommanderFun]

Tuesday 2/1/2022

Squat 285x5x3
Power Clean 150x3x3
Pulldown 195x8x3

Did not get the best sleep last night, was in a crummy mood and felt tired all day.

Squeaked out that 285 squat for all 3 sets. I think moving to back-offs is in order though. The gym is awful packed these days and impatient bros are bothering me asking how many sets I have left when I take these 8 minute rests.

Power cleans got real ugly on the last set. My legs and back were really drained from the squats. Hopefully switching to back-offs will rectify this. Gonna bump it to 152.5 next week, hope I can pull it off.

Pulldowns got a little hard at the end, but still managed to get the last rep to touch down on the chest. When I can clear the chin but not touch the chest on the very last rep, I'll taper the reps down again.

[CommanderFun]

Thursday 2/3/2022

Press 140x5x3
Bench 190x5x3
Barbell Curl 65x10x3

Just adding a note for posterity's sake, as of yesterday I've discontinued my zoloft dosage. Been feeling pretty good so far. There are a lot of side effects I don't like, and I've decided if I want to have kids some day I can't be on this stuff when I do. I've noticed shittier performance when I upped the dose, so who knows, maybe going off it will see my performance improve. I'm taking an l-tyrosine pill instead every morning. Probably not really doing anything appreciable, but it seems to satisfy the placebo effect at least.

Press was good today. Think there's some potential to getting some more progress in with this program before it gets hung up again. Bench felt tougher than it should have, but that was after the heavy pressing. Got all 10 reps of all 3 sets on the curls, moving to 70 next week. Brought my grip in a little and it helped with some of the wrist discomfort I had doing these.

[CommanderFun]

Friday 2/4/2022

Deadlift 410x5
Squat 235x5x2

New deadlift PR should've been a more joyous occasion, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to belt out 415 next week. I don't think I had another rep in me for this one. I'm going to try doing some kind of a deload week for the lower body stuff next week, see if it helps. Squats and deadlifts both feel like they are just moving toward an absolute limit instead of increasing in actual strength. I'm hoping it's just fatigue and an easier week will help restore real progress.

[CommanderFun]

Monday 2/7/2022

Weigh-in: 282.4

Bench 222.5x5x3
Press 120x5x3
Lying Triceps Extension 80x10,10,9

Good workout. Don't think any bench reps got too hung up. Managed to keep up the progression pace on the LTEs. Despite the increasing difficulty, the "pump" effect has diminished. Doesn't really have relevance to training for strength, but it's interesting to observe. This must be why bodybuilders are so big on changing up their exercise selection.

[CommanderFun]

Tuesday 2/8/2022

Squat 275x2x3
Power Clean 135x3x3
Pulldown 197.5x8x3

Deloading lower body stuff this week. Light workouts are taking a hit in intensity, heavy workouts are taking a hit in volume. We'll see if this alleviates some of the issues I've been having. Every rep of the squats and cleans felt like it was perfect, at least. Felt really good after the squats in particular. I'd forgotten what it felt like getting through with a squat workout that didn't annihilate you.

[CommanderFun]

Thursday 2/10/2022

Press 142.5x5x3
Bench 192.5x5x3
Barbell Curl 70x10,10,7

Press reps got a little slow at the end of sets 2 and 3. Maybe I'll try slapping another minute onto the rest time. New weight on the curls was fine.

[CommanderFun]

Friday 2/11/2022

Deadlift 385x2
Squat 185x5x3

Man, why do squats seem to always feel heavy even at light weights? It's so goddamn strange.

[CommanderFun]

Monday 2/14/2022

Weigh-in: 286.6 pounds

Bench 225x5x3
Press 122.5x5x3
Lying Triceps Extension 80x10x3

Bench was good. Nailed all 3 LTE sets, moving on to 90 next week. I expect it'll take me a while to break out of that. Hopefully I'll at least manage to get 10 on the first set still.