Just came here to brag

[Mr. Bingley]

well from my side of the aisle that 'half a cantaloupe' look never done much for me either

[tiny&mighty]

To save you some sanity trying to figure it out—since I have been making it up as I go along—I'll summarize the period from my mock test (12/17/21) to now:

- I started out with too little volume, doing single x5 sets for Squat and Bench, 1x5 sets for Press
- Instead of deadlift, I started alternating Haltings & Rack Pulls at too light of a deadlift weight if I was training normally, but it sure saved my back as I started snowboarding several times a week.
- After a couple of weeks, I started adding backoff sets to Squats and Bench and went back to 3x5 for Press.
- Volume and Intensity (the lack of) negatively impacted my Presses, so I started 2x/week (or more), alternating "Volume" (3x5) and Intensity (1x5) days.
- I was getting greedy with my Haltings & Rack Pull Intensity while neglecting Volume (Light and Medium pulling days), which strained my lower back, necessitating a reset.
- A trip put a week+ hole in the training, so a slight reset (~2% for the presses, ~3% for squat, 10% for pulls) worked well.
- Continue.

So it has been 3 months of not training each lift (or variation) 3x/week. Comparing my last mid-December 3x5 worksets to now:

SQ - 300x5x5 — Current - 305x5 + 275x5x2
BP - 202.5x5x5 (Intensity 212x5) — Current - 210x5x3 (Intensity 230x1x5)
OP - 130x5x5 (Intensity 142.5x1x5) — Current - 132x5x3 (Intensity 144x1x5)
DL - 345x5 — Current - Rack Pull 360x5 (after having worked up to 390x5)

Overall, squat and pull haven't moved much up or down, but the presses are continue to improve, albeit much slower than had I kept up normal training. But I'm also going to be away again next week, so there will be appropriate resets. But the goal, to slow the decay of lift capability while living life, has been successful so far.

As you plan it out, keep up that pressing frequency and intensity. You have a bit more wiggle room with the squat, and more with the pulls.

Keep at it!

<insert man clapping in theater balcony gif here>

Wow, thanks for the cliff notes, Bill! This is quite consistent with what I had in mind. For the squat and bench, I was thinking of doing 2 sets of 3 followed by 3 sets of 5. I am not planning any change to the deadlift for now, but this could change depending on how things go over the next weeks (rack pulls & haltings are not off the menu yet). And for the press, I'd like to do 2 or 3 sessions per week, but I'll have to see how to program this around the snatches and C&J.

Your results are truly amazing. Have you considered writing an article about this? I find that there is not a whole lot of clear direction for situations like this.

well from my side of the aisle that 'half a cantaloupe' look never done much for me either

In my experience, men care a lot less about breasts than women think they do.

[Bill Anders]

Wow, thanks for the cliff notes, Bill! This is quite consistent with what I had in mind. For the squat and bench, I was thinking of doing 2 sets of 3 followed by 3 sets of 5. I am not planning any change to the deadlift for now, but this could change depending on how things go over the next weeks (rack pulls & haltings are not off the menu yet). And for the press, I'd like to do 2 or 3 sessions per week, but I'll have to see how to program this around the snatches and C&J.

Glad to help! Plus, it help me synthesize my thoughts on the season and see how and where my making it up as I go along has panned out. I added additional notes to it here.

For your squat and bench, you might not need that much volume with the back-off sets, especially if you keep pushing the Intensity and are doing all of the other fun outside warm weather activities. But definitely keep the frequency of those presses going. As far as deadlift, keep running them as long as you can, as long as you can balance the deadlifts and your other activities. I needed to back off of the stress that it causes my lower back since my snowboarding is very abusive to that area, so I switched.

Your results are truly amazing. Have you considered writing an article about this? I find that there is not a whole lot of clear direction for situations like this.

Nope, but thanks for your vote of confidence. I'm really just riffing off of the answer I received from an SSC a few years back when I asked how to maintain some strength during this season. He just said to get one intensity session in for each lift each week. And since this La Niña has been pretty much a bust (much lower snowfall than normal for us), I haven't been snowboarding as much as winters past (12 days this season, compared to 29 days at this point last year), so I can play with this more. For all I know, this is an anomaly.

[Fred J]

well from my side of the aisle that 'half a cantaloupe' look never done much for me either

What he said!!
\

[Fred J]

In my experience, men care a lot less about breasts than women think they do.

Bigger does not mean better. You can't beat natural looking body parts...


AND by the way keep up the awesome work you are doing!!

[tiny&mighty]

Thanks again, gentlemen. And whenever I see a comment from Fred, I hear this song in my head.


Today's session was basically the opposite of Wednesday's...

Intensity squat - 2 sets of 3 at 217.5 lbs (PR-ish)

A bitter-sweet PR. Maybe I should have stuck with 2-3 doubles, but I doubt it would have changed anything.

I am tempted to just call it a bad squat day. It was like my feet were not well grounded throughout, if that makes any sense. My form hasn't been this bad in a while (knee sliding and caving, questionable depth, back angle too vertical...).

Both 3rd reps were an absolute gamble. I completed them but it ain't pretty. During set 1, the weight somehow shifted to one side during my last ascent. And on set 2, a foot came off upon reaching the top of rep 2; I then tried to readjust my stance (probably not a great idea), and the last rep was completed with a lot of knee caving (though it arguably felt way worse than it looks).

Set 1 back and front
Set 2 back and front

So I think I will repeat this session next week. As much as I am looking forward to achieving a 225-lb squat, I don't think I should rush the process at the expense of good form.

Volume press - 5 X 5 at 85 lbs

This went extremely well, which boosts my confidence for my next intensity session. It also provides further evidence in support of the "bad pressing day" hypothesis about last Wednesday's intensity session.

Here's today set 5; quite the improvement since last December's set 3 at the same weight...

[Fred J]

Thanks again, gentlemen. And whenever I see a comment from Fred, I hear this song in my head.

Thanks! That made me laugh. I wished I still had a trim midsection like that...LOL!


Good squatting!

[tiny&mighty]

Well, yesterday's session was quite a disappointment.

Volume bench - 5 X 5 at 121 lbs

This went well again, but on both volume and intensity days, I'm starting to think that this is a lot of volume at such weights. My lower arms feel quite beat up afterwards; it's almost like my bones hurt. I'll keep this going until I hit my 135-lb goal (hopefully in 2 weeks), but after that, I think I'm gonna cut down volume by 2 sets on each session.

Deadlift - 3, 1, 0 at 235 lbs

I think a combination of factors was at play here.

First, my lower back was tight again (I guess I need to dust off my jackknife stretch). Loading the bar was enough to trigger it. But I'm back to work after a week off, so I'm not surprised my back is reacting. Especially after those wonky squats on Sunday.

Second, my squat has been progressing so well that it's probably interfering with my deadlift again. But right now I'd rather push a lift that is going well at the expense of a lift that is not, than suck at both lifts. This problem will solve itself one way or another: my squat is bound to get stuck (at which point backing off will be a lesser sacrifice); or May will come, introducing my summer programming with squats only once a week.

Third, there was something off with my form. A bad deadlift day? I've been using the bad day excuse quite often lately. But here's the deal: set 1 went relatively well, though I dropped my hips on rep 3. Then came set 2. Rep 1 went well, but it's like I lost my setup afterwards. I tried to adjust but when I started rep 2, the bar drifted forward right away. Had this mishap not occurred, I think I would have completed my second triple. I later attempted a third set, but my lower back was too triggered at that point; it seemed wiser to call it a day.

On the bright side, none of the reps I completed look awful. Actually, all look much better than they did at the same weight in January. So here is progress.


I am nevertheless a bit pissed off. I had tried to find a strength coach in the area in January, but all seemed to be of the "exercise" type (including CrossFit, which I despise). I tried again yesterday, using different key words, googling "deadlift coach" instead. I think I have found someone; a powerlifting and strongman guy. I sent him my info and we shall see whether he is willing and able to help. My guess is that I am not his typical client...

[tiny&mighty]

After a very long meeting, I rushed home to do my training session.

Power was out.

But that wasn't going to stand between me and my 95-lb press. I finally found some use for the USB powered light that came with my new tripod.


Intensity press - 5 sets of 3 at 95 lbs (PR)

Besides a weird third rep on set 4, this went really well, even with some tightness persisting in my lower back. I rested a bit longer before set 5, and successfully completed my 5 triples. Imagine... this used to be my lifetime goal. For the bench!

The videos would have looked better with more light in the gym, but I was not going to let this moment go unrecorded. Here's set 5.

Of course, power came back the minute I started unloading the bar.


Volume squat - 4 sets of 5 at 195 lbs

You know when you start your first set and think there's no way you'll complete your planned workout? This was one of those.

The squat didn't bother my back at all, but every set was hard, especially those fifth reps. At some point I thought: "Why can't I just do bench split squats with pink dumbbells like the other girls?"

But nothing beats the satisfaction of completing an excruciatingly hard session of volume squats.


And I have a coach now. We're still in the assessment phase, but I already have some useful pointers for my deadlift. He suggested I participate in a strongman competition in May. LOL.

[Mr. Bingley]

nicely done, and the mood lighting added some old school charm!