Slowjoe's SS Training Log

[Tad_T]

To get my elbows to quit, I had to change a couple of things.

The first thing was to stop doing pull ups and start doing chin ups.

The second was to supinate the hand from the elbow that hurts on my works sets of deadlifts and to drop cleans for a while.

This was suggested by my doctor, who lifts and actually knows what he is talking about. He showed me how the elbow worked and how the tendons were stressed when pulling heavy and pronated. He suggested that I try it and see what I thought.

He was right.

[slowjoe]

Warmup:
110 minutes squash, almost continuous, but against weaker opponents. Finished earlier than usual, so I had time to waste in the weight room. Without it, I don't think I'd have finished the workout.

Nutrition:
Banana

Squats
Stretching
20/44 x 5
60/132 x 5
100/220 x 5
142.5/313 x 5 x 3

Have to say, I'm mentally weak at the moment. The work sets aren't slowing down at any point, my elbow is pretty much fine, and yet it's a real struggle to talk myself under the bar.

Dumbell Press
12/26 per hand x 5
18/39 ph x 5
24/52 ph x 5 x 3

Last rep was a little iffy, but onward to next week.

Pullups (DH)
3, 3, 2f + 1 kpu.

Needed a little more rest for this, I think.

Post-workout:
2 pints of milk. Haven't been drinking my milk, and that may be why I've been feeling fatigued. Tonight, I was feeling tired going into the gym!

There was a PT wandering round on cleanup, and a couple of time, he was trying to do pullup-bar muscleups. Got one, missed another 3. I haven't seen that before. He complemented me on my squats, for the fact that I had weight on the bar and still went to full depth, which was nice. (Depth is actually something I want to check out next week. Definitely need to post a video for a form check.)

[slowjoe]

To get my elbows to quit, I had to change a couple of things.

The first thing was to stop doing pull ups and start doing chin ups.

The second was to supinate the hand from the elbow that hurts on my works sets of deadlifts and to drop cleans for a while.

This was suggested by my doctor, who lifts and actually knows what he is talking about. He showed me how the elbow worked and how the tendons were stressed when pulling heavy and pronated. He suggested that I try it and see what I thought.

He was right.

That might be gold right there.

I noticed that my elbow hurt on pullups when I started back, My response was to bias to more chinups than pullups, and push through the first couple of weeks. At which point, the elbow improved to "almost asymptomatic". I'm thinking that the chinups may have been therapeutic. HMMMM...

[slowjoe]

Nutrition:
1 banana

Warmup:
10 chinups (5 c2b-dh, 5 k)
Skipping
10 situps
5 OHS + dislocates
10 back extensions
10 dips

20 minutes hitting a squash ball.

Squats
60/132 x 5
100/220 x 5
145/319 x 5 x 3 (+2.5kg from Friday)

First time I've chalked to squat. I think I'll do more of that.

Bench Isos
85kg in 3 positions x 12s (+5kg from last set several weeks ago)

Starting to get interesting. I'm finding where my sticking point is. I decided to work the lockout, because I thought that was where I was weak. The second position turned out to be at the limit of my reach, so I moved further down for my third set. The first two positions were dead easy: I'm convinced I could probably have held them for twice as long. The third position, lower down, I could barely hold against the pins. So that was educational.

Power cleans
40/88 x 3 HPC
50/110 x 3 HPC
60/132 x 3 HPC
77.5/170 x 3 x 3 PC.

Last rep of first set was a wrestling match. I think I'll repeat this weight next PC WO.

DH Pullups:
3 x 3 with 2 min rest.

I've decided I'm going to repeat my last WO for DL, Bench and PC at this point, basically on a whim. I have 200kg DL and 100kg bench by Christmas in the bag provided I don't miss. So I'm not going to give myself the chance to miss. With PC, I feel like I need more practice to groove myself again.

[slowjoe]

Nutrition:
Pre: 1 banana
Post: 2 pints of semi-skimmed milk

Warmup:
12 Chinups (6 c2b-dh, 6k)
KB snatch x 10 on each hand
Silly pilates stuff (leg extensions, butt raises)
10 situps.

Forgot to do dips!!

Squats
20/44 x 5
60/132 x 2 paused,de
95/209 x 2 x 10 paused, de

Good mornings
20 x 8

First set ever

Bench
20/44 x 5 x 3 (n, r, w)
62.5/140 x 5 x 3 (n, r, w)
95/209 x 5 x 3 (r, = last week's weight)

Went looking for a pair of 15s before the work set. Couldn't have been gone more than 45 seconds. Getting back, some shithead has stripped the bar, and was removing it from the bench station.

"I'm using that."
"Oh, ok".

After my first bench set, I saw him nearly knock the bar away from a guy doing inclined bench, while trying to get a weight from an adjacent station. Crazy.

Deadlifts:
60/132 x 5
110/242 x 3
160/352 x 5 (2 DOH, 3 mixed)
195/429 x 3 (DOH, mixed) (= last week)

Adding weight next week. Really felt it in the hamstrings, which is probably due to the GMs. Grip failed at 160. Guess I'll stick in a DOH set at 140 next week, and a mixed set at 170.

Pullups:
3 x 4 DH

Stupid-ass-strap-pullups-with-my-feet-on-the-floor:
10

Felt these in the hammies as well. Who knew a 20kg set of GM was such strong medicine? In case yer wondering, there will be no videos of my John-Wayne-walk tomorrow. Just saying...

[DV]

Who knew a 20kg set of GM was such strong medicine?

A month or two back I did some GM's just for kicks. I used 40 kg iirc, and I had the craziest DOMS I've had since I started training some 7-8 years ago. You need to be seriously careful with that excercise, and ease into it - in my experience. That's a decent deadlift, too.

[Tad_T]

Good Mornings are no joke. They are an @$$ kicker, for sure.

When I have them in my program, I do them as my last lower body exercise.

[slowjoe]

Skipped this workout because I was coming down with a cold.

I predict a bunch of gargling in my future.

[slowjoe]

So, tonight was the first workout with new pair of shoes. I got myself a pair of chuck taylors. Significant improvement. I also forgot to pack a pair of boxers, so I did the workout commando. That was also a first. Read on for item 3.

Nutrition: banana

Warmup:
Chinups: 4 dh/6k Couldn't make c2b.
KB snatch 20/44 x 10 x 2
10 situps
8 OHS - stopped when I got pain in my right elbow joint.

Squats:
60/132 x 5
100/220 x 5
145/319 x 5, 150/330 x 5,5. 145 was my last work weight last Wed.

Three of us were sharing the squat rack. Some muppet was 1/3 squatting 160kg, along with the guy who was there first, squatting 60kg. There was a complication: the gym has semi-bumper 25kg and 20kg plates, badly marked in "moody" lighting. For the muppet's first set, he thought the bar was unbalanced, and we stripped it, and it was fine. But after the first set, we stripped down to 60kg, and rebuilt the bar for his final set.

I then did two sets with that bar. When I stripped it, I found his end had a 25 where there should have been a 20, so I lifted the wrong weight on an unbalanced bar for two sets without noticing. That's...weird,and the last of my three firsts.

Bench:
20/44 x 5 x 3 n,r,w
65/143 x 5 x 3 n,r,w
OHS 40/88 x1 fucking about (see below)
97.5/215 x 5 x 3 r. Plus 2.5kg from last Wed

Deadlifts
60/132 x 5
100/220 x 3
165/363 x 5 mixed
197.5/435 x 3 DOH with straps. Plus 2.5kg from last Wed.

Last set was fucking heavy and REALLY slow. I think I took 3 and 4 breaths between reps. Only pulled the trigger on the next rep when my thighs started to fatigue from the squat-ish position. I'm still optimistic that I might hit 200 by New Years if not Christmas.

DH Pullups
3 x 5 on the 2 minute mark.

Silly bullshit:
So, I was sharing the squat with the guy with the quarter squat and another guy in vibrams. Vibram-guy was super-setting 60kg front squat x 8 with weighted lunges and stuff. But they were decent FS reps: he was nearly hitting parallel to start the first set, and went deeper as he went on. Last set was all legit reps ass-to-grass.

When I hit the bench, he was overhead squatting 40kg beside it, so I tried an OHS set. Gave up after 1 rep with stabbing pain in left wrist. But they were decent OHS reps: close to parallel.

So after that I saw him doing calf raises in the smith machine. Ooookaaaay. Then back squats. WTF? Quarter squat back squats in the Smith machine?

I told him it was rubbish, which I'd normally not do.

"You've been doing good reps of great exercises and now your doing that?"
"What's wrong if it?"
"To do a proper squat, you have to keep the bar over the centre of your foot. The Smith machine is at an angle, so it's simply not possible."
"Oh. I've noticed that my back is after them..."
Shrug.

[Rezart Erindi]

So after that I saw him doing calf raises in the smith machine. Ooookaaaay. Then back squats. WTF? Quarter squat back squats in the Smith machine?

I told him it was rubbish, which I'd normally not do.

"You've been doing good reps of great exercises and now your doing that?"
"What's wrong if it?"
"To do a proper squat, you have to keep the bar over the centre of your foot. The Smith machine is at an angle, so it's simply not possible."
"Oh. I've noticed that my back is after them..."
Shrug.

You are right, this is not typical. Generally the sally machine guys also quarter squat 95 lbs. I think that the guy reads too much Flex magazines. There you'll find many photos of the current bodybuilders using the Sally Machine. I once saw a video of fucking Jay Cutler squatting 315!!! on that stupid machine for 10 reps. How he keeps that amount of muscle mass is beyond me.