Training for a whole year

[Eric Schexnayder]

9/17/2023

56/309, 24/156

Squat
280x5x3

Bench Press
225x5
202x5x2

Chins
BWx{7, 6, 2}

Pretty good day. This upcoming week only gives me Tuesday and Friday to lift, so had to lift today to get three workouts in this week. As a result, I didn't get a light day or two day period between "heavy" squats. Oh well.

Squats fine except another accidental pause squat in the second set. Need to quit that.

Bench and Chins fine. Two plates on bench!

Gave some thought to Press programming changes and decided to give 162x5x3 a try next time. This time I will fully rest between "sets" to minimize the singles. If I can squeeze a little more weight onto the bar before switching to once a week PRs that would be good.

[Eric Schexnayder]

9/19/2023

58/307, 25/156

Good day. Weather was absolutely beautiful. With the humidity down a hair, the evaporative cooler is working very well.

Squat
225x5x3

Press
162x4
162x5x2
162x1

Deadlift
385x5

Squats felt a little too easy. So I tried some DE work on the first set (rattle the plates) and some pauses on the last set. By total coincidence, I discovered a new cue that I felt made these sets even easier. For whatever reason during the rebound, I started thinking about feeling my whole foot on the ground. I don't know why, but my mind just started shouting "Toes!". This seemed to help me keep my chest down a little longer than I normally do. Will have to try on a heavy set.

Might have just been the lighter squats beforehand, but Press went great! I'm glad I didn't make that programming change. These were all pretty easy; the last rep on the first set got just a hair out in front, but I made it up on the back end. The other two sets were no problem at all. Really focused on "throw the bar", "aim for your nose", "get under it" and "shrug!". Sticking with LP for now!

Deadlifts also went well, though I must admit my mind was not on my side during these. I think because it's been over a week since pulling. I felt just a hair behind the bar during the set, something I had tried to rectify before pulling but just couldn't. The last two reps were rough, but I didn't really fear for all five. Thumbs a little more beat up than usual; might consider straps soon for the heavy sets.

Next two days will be busy with kids' stuff. Lifting again Friday.

[Eric Schexnayder]

9/22/2023

61/304, 26/156

Hot again. Felt like kind of a "meh" day.

Squat
285x5
255x5x2

Bench
227x5
205x5x2

Chins
BWx4

First set of squats wasn't terrible, but didn't feel great either. I was supposed to do 285x5x3 but after the first set decided to switch to a top set of 5 and two back-offs on the squat going forward. I had been considering this since the reset, and after reading through some of my old logs I've realized this weight range has been a sticking point for me every time I've LP'd up to it. Might be time to try something different. I don't know if there's a tremendous difference in applied stress between 3 sets of 5 and a top set with 2 back-offs. But I do know that the relief of the mental stress helps a lot.

Bench was fine. Rep 4 of the top set got a little grindy.

While benching I started to feel a little ill and tired. Tried chins and the energy just wasn't there. Maybe I'll get more in some other time.

Been thinking a lot about goals and this program lately.

[Cole Gorton]

what are you leaning towards?

once im doing a top set w/back offs and my reps get grindy, i would personally consider my LP done and move to intermediate (HLM, TM, or U/L split)

[Eric Schexnayder]

9/24/2023

63/302, 27/156

Squat
230x5x3

Press
165x{5, 4, 3, 2, 1}

Power Clean
175x3x5

Pretty good day. Squats were light and fairly easy. Focused on form to get some good practice.

Press could have been better. None of these was particularly grindy, more just that the rep got stuck at the forehead. Got all 15 though. I am thinking that I may just go ahead and swap to the intermediate training method I proposed a few posts ago. Today's Press session made the whole workout take a lot longer than I would have liked.

After a short time away from cleans, I've decided to added them back in for now. Went ahead and reset 10% from last successful 3x5. These went pretty well. I think I will try microloading them going forward.

With the Pressing change I will also be making some pulling changes to try to move to more of a weekly program. For now I'm planning on the following:

3 Day/Week:
Day 1:
"Heavy" Squat: Top setx5, 2@90%
"Volume" Press: 3x5 @90% of last Intensity
Deadliftx5

Day 2:
"Light" Squat: 80% of Heavy Top Set
"I+V" Bench: Top setx5, 4@90%
Chin Ups

Day3:
"Medium" Squat: 3x5@90% of top set
"Intensity" Press: 5 - 7 singles @ PR weight
Power Cleanx3x5, taper to doubles, then singles

Also want to add in some conditioning. I find myself getting out of breath walking up stairs and I don't care for that. I would like to stick with the SS recommendation of a prowler push sled, but don't have the cash for that at the moment. I do have some kettlebells though, and I think they could be useful for improving baseline conditioning.

[Eric Schexnayder]

what are you leaning towards?

once im doing a top set w/back offs and my reps get grindy, i would personally consider my LP done and move to intermediate (HLM, TM, or U/L split)

I really just want to train for health & appearance. I don't have and really can't think of any hobbies or other activities I currently or might do in the future that would require significantly more strength, much less acquired at a rapid rate. Perhaps that will change one day, but the default motivation is just my overall health.

I agree with you about LP. I think it's come to a close. I'm pretty happy with where I've landed and I need to stop comparing myself to a standard I have in my mind. I do know that my squat is dog shit, but I doubt that I'll realistically get that resolved so soon that I'll add significantly more weight. Plus, the other lifts are slowly dwindling in progress, and frankly I'm okay with that. So at this point it's accepting that progress has slowed, and the honeymoon phase is over. Time to focus on the longer term consistency.

And honestly I'm tired of eating so much LOL. I'd like to get back to some degree of normalcy with regards to that.

[swoz]

Congratulations on completing your LP man!

How are you going to celebrate?

[Cole Gorton]

your squats arent dogshit bro. anyone squatting 300+ for reps is far stronger than the average person on this planet.

i feel you on the conditioning...i just need to save up for an airdyne or C2 rower bc running sucks.

also, new program looks good - HLM style i like it

[Eric Schexnayder]

Congratulations on completing your LP man!

How are you going to celebrate?

Thanks!

Not by eating, I can tell you that!

your squats arent dogshit bro. anyone squatting 300+ for reps is far stronger than the average person on this planet.

i feel you on the conditioning...i just need to save up for an airdyne or C2 rower bc running sucks.

also, new program looks good - HLM style i like it

I appreciate that, Cole. I know the first time I squatted I could barely make 135 lbs for a few reps. Lots of progress, and lots more to come (hopefully) with training consistently.

Man I tried kettlebells the other day... that sucked ass. My back and thighs were so sore after just three sets of ~30 reps.

[Eric Schexnayder]

9/26/2023

65/300, 28/156

Late update. Been real busy with work and baseball lately.

Squat
290x5
260x5x2

Bench Press
230x5
207x5x2

Chin Ups
BWx{6, 5, 3}

Everything felt good on this workout. Last "official" LP workout before I start the new program model on Friday.

With everything going on lately, an upcoming vacation totally snuck up on me. The first "week" of the new program will be Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday, and then I'll be out for a few days. Will probably pick up after that on Sunday or so. We'll see.

Been cutting back on food. Trying to make my diet something more sustainable and manageable in terms of cost and complexity.