ActivitiesGuy Log III: StrongFirst Kettlebells & Deadlifts

Wednesday 4/5

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x185
1x205
1x225
1x255
1x275
1x295
1x315
1x315
1x315
1x315
5x255
5x255
5x255
5x255
5x255

Wife did a single at 170, five doubles at 155, and five sets of five at 135. Pretty good day.

Nice.

Thursday 4/6

Front Squat

3x135
3x135
1x165
1x165
1x195
1x195
1x225
1x225
1x255
1x255
1x265

Deadlift

5x135
1x225
1x315
1x405
1x425
1x445
1x475
1x495
1x495
1x495
1x495

Friday 4/7

Front Squat

5x135
1x165
1x185
1x205
1x225
1x255
1x255
1x255
1x255
1x255
1x255

Back Squat

1x225
1x255
1x275
1x305
1x305
1x305
1x305
1x305
1x305
5x275

Saturday 4/8

10-Mile Run (93 Minutes)

This was somehow both easier than expected and harder than expected. I felt like crap in some parts of the run, others I’d settle into a groove and feel pretty good. Part of this is the undulating terrain around my apartment, which means constantly shifting gears as you go from a slight uphill to a big downhill to a small downhill to flat to a steep uphill, etc…nevertheless, I stayed in motion and kept moving forward for 10 miles and managed to maintain a 9-ish minute per mile pace, which is pretty good for my longest run in 4 years.

5 Likes

Running 10 miles while pulling 500lb like it’s no big deal.

The thread title fits perfectly.

Sunday 4/9

Deadlift

5x135
5x135
1x225
1x225
1x315
1x315
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
1x225
1x255
1x285

Deadlift challenge today. Made it through all 30 minutes of EMOM singles at 405. Decided towards the end that my form was breaking down a little, so I did not push for the bonus 30th minute tiebreaker. I just walked away with my 30 singles. A few back squats afterwards for decoration.

2 Likes

Monday 4/10

Front Squat

3x135
3x145
3x155
3x165
3x175
3x185
1x195
1x205
1x215
1x225
1x235
1x245
1x255
1x265

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
1x225
1x255
1x285
1x315
3x285
5x255

1 Like

Have you ever tried alternating between BS and FS between sets?

Set 1- Back Squat
Set 2 - Front Squat
Set 3 - Back Squat
and so on…

Tuesday 4/11

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
3x225
3x255
3x285
1x315
1x325
1x335
1x345
1x360 (PR)
1x315
1x315
1x315

Ha. Certainly not something that was originally on the agenda, but I was feeling pretty good as I moved on up the ladder, so I decided to keep going. 345 went up without too much of a fight so I decided to take a small PR for the day.

3 Likes

Wednesday 4/12

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
1x225
1x255
1x275
1x295
1x315
1x345
1x345
3x315
5x275
5x275
5x275
5x275

Thursday 4/13

Kettlebell Swings & Dumbbell Circuit (20 Minutes)

Friday 4/14

Deadlift

5x135
5x135
1x225
1x225
1x315
1x315
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385
1x385

1 Like

Saturday 4/15

9:30 AM: Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)

11:30 AM: Lifting

Back Squat

3x135
3x185
1x225
1x255
1x285
1x315
1x325
1x345
1x345

Front Squat

3x135
1x165
1x195
1x225
1x255
1x255
1x255

Do you do any upper body work (ohp, bench, pull ups, shit even arms) and just not record it, or do you solely do just what you write? I’ve been following for a bit and am impressed by how much strength you have gained thus far brother. Really crazy stuff and shows how far consistency goes.

Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated.

Just what I write. There is a little hidden upper body work, I guess - when you see a “dumbbell and kettlebell” session about once a week, that’s what my wife and I affectionately call our “bro workout” - we work out in our apartment’s fitness center, which has a dumbbell rack, and do an assortment of dumbbell shoulder raises, curls, shoulder presses, and maybe some incline bench supersetted with kettlebell swings. I look at that as a basic catch-all to hit my upper body with an all-around session for maintenance purposes.

Honestly, upper body strength just isn’t a huge priority for me. I used to be an okay bencher (as a college football player, I could bench 315 for a good triple, and I did 19 reps with 225 as a senior) but haven’t trained it regularly since then. Since my resumption of serious barbell work in 2015, for whatever reason I’ve been much more drawn to building total-body strength via the deadlift and, more recently, squatting as well. Feels like that’s where I get the most bang for my training buck.

1 Like

Sunday 4/16

10-Mile Run (93 Minutes)

3 Likes

“Strength is built training in the 80-87% range. That’s where you should accumulate volume.”

–Christian Thibaudeau in his ThibArmy video on Wave Loading

Did you know this when you started your current training or did you just figure it out through trial and error? It looks like this is exactly what you do.

Thats pretty much what every strong person on here does tbh

From my experience most programs progress past 87%. A lot of programs published on this site go past 87% including some of Thibaudeau’s past work.

5/3/1, 915, The Complete Power Look to name a few. Hard to make a blanket statement saying everyone trains in the 80-87% range for strength when the published evidence says differently.

Regardless of that, it appears to be working for @ActivitiesGuy