3/16/2020
Started Guaranteed Muscle Mass (T-nation article by Paul Carter) today.
In preparation for this, started taking Creatine on Saturday, and eating as much as I want (pretty much been doing that since last week getting back from vacation).
Lower Body #1
Squats:
-One at 200lb
-AMRAP at 165lb: 12 reps. (This is definitely weakness of mind. My lower back hurt and I ended the set, but I know if my will was stronger I could have done more. I should have done 16-20 IMO).
-60 seconds rest, then AMRAP at 165 again: 10 reps.
SLDL:
-One at 200lb
-AMRAP at 165lb - 17 reps, grip was limiting factor (used double overhand).
Split squats:
Elevated rear foot on an 8" box.
-5 sets with empty bar: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 reps.
OK, these sucked the most by far. I was sweating hard and huffing and probably grunting and seething to the annoyance of the two other people in the gym.
Back to the “weakness of mind” theme, if I could do 18 reps on the last set I certainly could have done it on the first set, right? But I was struggling with balance, and finding the “groove” on this unfamiliar exercise. By the end, it was hard, but I knew what I was doing. My legs were shaking and there will be DOMS from this!
Very hard to focus on a workout, the kids were up and watching Netflix (and me). I find the living room is not conducive to performance.
Past couple days I did some stuff I didn’t bother to log, like 10 pushups EMOM to reach 100, some KB swings, some split squats with RFE on the couch (didn’t work out well for me).
And we’ve been very busy cleaning and fixing up our house, which we are selling.
Tomorrow is the first Monday of working from home for me, I hope to get into more of a routine.
3/23
5x20 split squats, bodyweight only, not RFE
5x20 pushups
5x20 kb swings. 50lb
12, then 8 neutral grip pullups.
Intend to knock out 3 more sets of 8 pullups throughout the day.
3/24
Left knee has been cranky ever since yesterday’s split squats. Dont know what’s going on there.
Did this chest/tri routine posted by @giano:
Decline pushups, 3 sets to failure: 40, 20, 16
Pushups, 3 sets to failure: 15, 18, 18
Windowsill tricep extensions, 3 sets: 20, 20, 20 (couldn’t get the groove here…)
Diamond pushups, 3 sets to failure: 20, 16, 18
(Kids woke up before the last set of diamonds, so got a bit extra rest)
Then, between parenting responsibilities, 5x10 KB rows (50lb).
I’ll do 50 pullups today spread out, same as yesterday.
4 rounds of:
-15 sissy squats, heels on a board
-15 reverse nordics, knees on small pillow (unpleasant)
-15 split squats, RFE on couch
-15 squats
This circuit suggested by @j4gga2.
That was pretty cool except for the knee pressure from nordics. Never done those or sissy squats before. I can see a lot of room for improvement on the sissys.
Next:
Single leg RDLs, 50lb KB - 4x10
Floor slider hamstring curls: 4x10
The slider curls were brutal, felt like muscle cramps after rep 5 on every set.
A lot of room for improvement there.
Today’s experience proved to me that I can still be serious about training without a barbell.
I hope it doesn’t last long but in 2 months if I look better and feel better, maybe I’ll get back to the gym with some new strengths if also weaker in some areas.
This is pretty common, the load on the patellar tendon can cause some unpleasantness at first, but it goes away. Do you have a history of meniscal injuries?
In all honesty that depends on where you’re feeling pain. Does it feel fairly close to the skin - around the kneecap and/or the quad tendon - or does it feel very deep within the joint capsule?
Reverse Nordics introduce a large amount of creep - a concept similar to a loaded stretch - to the quad tendon. This may be the cause of discomfort for a lot of people. Over time, however, the tendon adapts to this loading and will actually become stiffer and stronger.
Thus, if we assume your discomfort is from the quad tendon, practicing the movement will make that discomfort go away as you get stronger, but it isn’t necessarily strength producing the change in pain (I hope that makes sense).
So yeah, I guess you could say the knee gets used to the pressure.
Where would you rate the discomfort out of 10, where 10 is the worst pain imaginable and 1 is a mozzie bite?
It is near the top of the shin bone I guess.
Hard to rate the pain, more pressure than acute pain, I can definitely say I can’t go to muscle failure on this - it feels like the knee would explode first.
Squats and swings were a bit too easy, for each I ran the last 2 sets together with no rest. Need to up reps and/or do the entire thing for time. Didn’t time this.
OHP was too hard. I had to use the free hand to stabilize, which quickly turned to assistance, by the end it approached a 2-handed movement- all the more awkward since it’s a small KB…
10 sets of 5 would probably have been more appropriate. I may try the KB out in the grass, where I could use one hand and drop if needed.
3/29, Sunday
Did the 10000 KB swing challenge workout today. I guess I’ll do the whole challenge, giving myself some consistency over the next few weeks.
Using my 50lb KB, my first time was 39 mins 40 seconds. Maybe I’m doing something wrong because it just didn’t seem that challenging.
Grip was where I felt it, I’ll have to put tape on the KB.
No other exercises in between this time, since I wanted to set a baseline time; I’ll add exercises from here on.
I wasn’t asskicked by this last time, but today is different. Much less rest, plus my grip and hams were sore to begin with. Right ham felt crampy the whole time. May need a day off this again.
A solid workout.
Felt good. Time was a few secs longer but considering a bilateral lower body movement is added, it’s a performance improvement. Was drenched in sweat LOL.
I wrapped the KB handle in hockey stick tape and it makes this much less taxing on my finger flexors. For good measure I still soaked my forearms in a sink of cold water for 3 minutes as soon as this was done; but I never felt like the bell was about to fly out of my hands.
Then:
3x10 upright rows with same KB.