Everything's Lighter at 8000ft: Pat's Training Log

[HiCntry]

10/15/15

BW: 230.5

Squat: 260x5x5

Bench: 195x4x1, 175x5x1, 175x7x1

DL: 360x5x1, RDL: 225x12x1

C2: 1:00/1:00 x5

Damn did squats feel a lot harder than 255 last week. Not that I was ever worried about missing any reps but the last two sets had a few that took me by surprise. Gonna stay here for 2 weeks and then maybe move up 5lbs.

I definitely had the 5th rep in me for bench but I was without a spotter again and got the fright. I work out at lunch during the week which means the gym is pretty empty most days to begin with and it's offseason now so spotters are even harder to find than hens teeth. Last Thursday I was the only person in the gym other than some guy in the pool. I've set up in the squat rack before but it only has 3 fixed pin positions and the closest one still has the bar almost 3in off my chest and the next one down is too low. Whadda ya gonna do?

DL was hard but good. I'm getting better at keeping a good pace and not taking too long between reps. Back on the DL PR train motherfuckers!!

C2 felt much worse than Tuesday but DL always wipes me out so I kinda figured these would suck.

[HiCntry]

10/16/15

Had the afternoon off to pack kids, etc.. for a weekend in Moab so some conditioning stuff I snuck in:

3 rounds:
DB OHP 35X15
30 step-ups
30sec rest

3rounds:
DB Curls 25x15
30 step-ups
30sec rest

2 rounds:
100 weighted step-ups (+30lbs)
30sec rest

Pretty easy, just wanting to ease back into more serious conditioning workouts for ski season. I used to do shit tons of this stuff before SS, kinda been missing it so it was nice to get back at it.



10/20/15

BW: 231.5

Squat: 325x5x1, 230x15x1

Bench: 195x5x1, 175x5x1

Press: 115x6x1, 95x8x1

GPP Junk: c2 1:00/1:00 x6, 3 rounds- Back Ext BW+25X10, 1:00 Plank

Squats felt pretty strong. The last rep almost pinned me in the hole but I managed to grind it out. The backoff set felt noticeably easier today. I'm gonna say its the addition of regular conditioning I've added back in but after only a week who knows.

Bench felt much heavier than last Thursday at the same weight, but I still got them. I skipped one backoff to do some pressing. My left shoulder has started to feel a bit funky and I'm guessing its the last 6 weeks of benching and no pressing. It's not really anything serious but I'd rather nip it in the bud, plus I miss pressing. Didn't have a real plan, just warmed up and picked some weights to see where my press was at. Turns out it hasn't deteriorated as much as I thought thanks to all the benching; pretty sure I was good for a few more reps in each of these sets.

Couldn't do PC's since I went to the can after finishing pressing and came back out and every bar was in use!! First time thats ever happened, but I did go later today so the gym was definitely more crowded. So I did some back ext after the rower.

[HiCntry]

10/22/15

BW: 233.5

Squat: 265x5x5

Press: 120x5x3

DL: 365x5x1, RDL:225x12x1

Chins @ the office: 4,4,4

I was going to keep these squats at 260 for another week but the last two 5lb jumps have taken me 2 weeks each because of missed reps. If we hit 330 on Tuesday I'll keep these here for another week and get on a two week schedule for these volume squats. Now that I've worked up to 80% of my ID weights these are starting to feel how I imagine TM method volume day weights might feel on the low end. It's hard to imagine a 5x5 at 90%.

Press was pretty easy although my technique and form have deteriorated. Not really sure what I'm gonna do here. I really want my bench over 200 and focusing on just that I've made pretty good gains in the last 6 weeks. But my shoulders feel way better today after pressing than they do on bench days. I may go back to doing each once a week and see what kind of progress I can make. I really want to hit a 225 bench but anything beyond that isn't gonna get me much increased performance for the sports and activities I do.

DL was hard but good. May start trying my belt looser by one notch. It doesn't bother me at setup, being so tall and lanky, but catching my breath between reps is tough with it on. It feels good though to be making regular progress on this lift again and inching closer to 4 plates.

[HiCntry]

10/24/15

Bunch of conditioning stuff @home:

3 rounds:
DB OHP 35X15
30 weighted step-ups (+30lb)
30sec rest

3rounds:
DB Curls 25x15
30 weighted step-ups (+30lb)
30sec rest

2rounds:
OH Tricep Ext 25x15
30 weighted step-ups (+30lb)
30sec rest

10/27/15

Missed the gym today since daycare called and said our youngest was sick. Take her home and she's totally fine. Kinda of a waste of a day gym-wise but hanging out with the kiddo is always fun. Figured I should do something while she napped so:

3rounds:
DB OHP 35X15
16 Sandbag getups @ 40lbs
30sec rest

3rounds:
OH Tri Ext 35x15
16 Sandbag getups @ 40lbs
30sec rest

Man am I still deconditioned. I used to bang out 30 getups with a 60lb bag as warmup for an hour of working out no problem. These short rounds with only 40lbs killed me. The extra conditioning hasn't really bothered recovery so far as I can tell, mostly because I've been avoiding all the eccentric "ski conditioning" type stuff for now. But it is a necessary evil if you want to hit the ground running for ski season in my experience.

The biggest challenge is food and eating enough. I had slowly dropped down to about 3900 calories a day when I switched to 2 days a week and my weight has kinda plateaued(230-233lb) for the last 6 weeks or so, even though I've been making some slow but steady gains. Well I started more conditioning to get in shape for ski season, not to really lose weight or lean out yet, but I can't keep the weight on, much less gain any. I'm back up to about 4150-4200cal a day and it's barely maintaining my weight.

I know I should be happy I'm still young enough with a high enough metabolism to shed weight so easily but I enjoy getting stronger and being well conditioned and am not going to be satisfied with 2 20min HIIT sessions twice a week, definitely not for the sports I enjoy. But I also don't really want to go back to eating 4500+cal a day indefinitely. I know I should just cycle through strength and conditioning phases, or go to some type of slow, maybe monthly program during ski season where I can maintain and make really slow gains. I'm gonna keep this up for the next month or so and see how it goes. This winter could end up being a bust like last year and then I'll be lifting tons and skiing less. But if we have a big winter than all bets are off and some weeks I may only get under the bar one day a week.

[HiCntry]

11/3/15

BW: 227lb

Squat: 315x5x1, 225x11x1

Bench: 180x5x1, 165x5x2


Last week was a write-off. After missing Tuesday with a not sick kid I got Strep throat Wednesday through Fri/Sat. Barely ate and could barely swallow until Fri after I went to the MD and got some antibiotics. They made me feel better but fucked up my stomach so didn't really eat much and lost about 6lbs over the weekend. Today felt better but weak. Planned on repeating the last full week but after warmups decided on 315 and barely even got that.

Bench felt weak as shit too and was a struggle. I'm sure some of it was all mental today but at least I got something in. Thursday should be better as my appetite is back now. I rarely get very sick but I haven't been that sick in a long time. I don't think I've had strep since high school.

[HiCntry]

11/5/15

BW: 230

Squat: 255x5x5

Bench: 185x5x1, 135x12x1

DL: 355x5x1, SGDL 225x8x1


I realized that maybe I was being greedy thinking I could just repeat my last full week after taking a whole week off, half of which I was sick for. So I did a little deload, probably not big enough but 10% seemed a bit excessive.

Squats felt ok, I had some pretty bad DOMS from Tuesday but these still went ok.

Bench was tough, this feels the weakest after the layoff. I kinda messed around with a high rep backoff.

DL felt harder than warmups led me to believe. Pretty much every DL rep I've missed since starting SS has been either off the floor or in the first 6in. If I get the rep to my knees than I'm usually good to go and lockout just happens without thinking about it. Well today was the opposite. Getting it off the floor was fine but the second half felt so weak and slow and lockout really took conscious effort to get my knees and back locked out.

SGDL was on the light side but I haven't done them before so I was trying to get a feel for them. I think they're gonna be fun. I'm hoping I can repeat the last full weeks weights next week and be back in PR territory the week after.

[HiCntry]

11/10/15

BW:230

Squats: 315x5x1, 225x12x1

Bench: 185x5x1, 165x7x2

PC: 135x3x3


I jinxed myself saying I never get sick because I woke this morning with the beginnings of a sinus infection. With all my allergies I get them a few times a year and they never really bother me other than a sore throat. But my energy levels were pretty low after not much good sleep last night. Soooo we repeated last week basically, but every lift did feel stronger. I mean if you squint and tilt your head and kinda unfocus your eyes some of those numbers could look like progress.

[HiCntry]

11/12/15

BW:231.5


Squat: 256x5x5

Bench: 187.5x5x1, 170x5x2

DL: 360x5x1, RDL: 225x10x1


Squats were fine but everything else was a struggle and felt weak. Bench and DL felt harder than the first time I did these weights. I only missed a week so not sure why this all feels so hard working back up. Still got some nastiness in my sinuses but I felt good going into the gym. My back was way sore for some reason after squats. But like we always say, I still left the gym feeling better than when I walked in so who cares if the weights weren't what i wanted them to be. It was still more than last Thurs.

[HiCntry]

11/14/15

Some ski conditioning stuff:

7 rounds:
Mini Leg Blasters (10 squat, 10 lunge, 10 jumping lunges, 5 squat jump all BW)
45sec rest

3 rounds:

20 pushups
5 chins

Haven't done these in a long time and they went way better than planned. These look like an eccentric nightmare for everybody on this site but skiing has a huge eccentric component and I know from experience that if you ignore or avoid all eccentric conditioning for skiing you do so at your own peril, and these are brutally effective. I started with only 7 rounds and 45 sec rest as opposed to 10rds and 30 sec rest but I was truly shocked at the complete lack of DOMS on Sunday and Monday. Usually you start at 10 rds of the mini's and work up to 6-8 rds of the fulls (20/20/20/10). I'll keep these up on the weekends and hopefully when ski season gets into full swing we'll be charging hard all day from the get go.


11/17/15

BW: 228

Squat: 320x5x1, 230x13x1

Bench: 190x4x1, 170x5x2

PC: 135x3x5

Press: warmups then 95x7x1, 115x5x1 (your welcome shoulders)


Definitely was not feeling it this morning, sick kid this weekend so very little sleep, but squats ended up being a smoke-show. I never though 320 could feel so light and fast. I realized after last Thursday that I've been getting lazy with my valsalva and not tightening my back as much as I've been contracting my abs. I worked on really tightening and maintaining my back angle and these felt way stronger and no good-morning nonsense that has been plaguing me for the last month or so. I should have gone for the last 2 reps at 230 but wussed out.

Bench was a little disappointing. Not sure why this lift keeps giving me the fits. I may be nearing the end of LP progress but I don't really want a super long volume workout on Thursdays and I was hoping to start adding the press back in but we'll see.

PC's felt pretty strong but I'm still starting to pull with my arms when I get lazy and fatigued. It may be time to get some DL socks since I finally ripped open my shin. I've worn a pretty good welt in my shins from pulling but today I finally drew blood.

I threw in some pressing since I should have doing this as an accessory this whole time and my shoulders always feel better afterwards. Kinda haphazard what I did today but we'll make a plan about what to do with bench and press going forward.

[HiCntry]

11/19/15

BW: 230


Squat: 270x5x5

Bench: 190x3x2(barely!), 135x10x2

DL: warmup included 5 PC singles at 150 then; SGDL 255x5x1, RDL; 230x10x1

Press: 95x10x2

Squats felt fine, no surprises. I'm a bit worried these volume day weights aren't high enough but between the slow workup to 80% and then getting sick I haven't really had a few weeks of consistent progression at my top end to really tell if 80% will work. Worked on keeping a better back angel driving from the top of my hips to keep my ass from shooting out.

I think I may have exhausted my current routine for bench progress. I may start going 3x2 for topsets and more high rep backoffs, which is actually how the program was originally written. I'm also wondering if alternating press again might help if I've burned myself out on benching. But this mini-reset I did after missing a week doesn't seemed to have helped so I'm probably talking out my ass.

I'm also gonna move DL to Tuesdays since deadlifting on volume day is getting to be a grind. So I went for a light DL today with SGDL and will start back with conventional on Tuesday. These felt easy weight-wise but something about how I hook gripped with my left hand made it feel like my left thumb was gonna tear off.

Press just because. Workout went fast today so I was gonna do some bro work but figured my arms and back would be better off pressing than curling or LTE's.