Just. Don't. Suck (Part 1)

Training Logs
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2640

9.2.18

Woke at 244.2 lbs.

Today is my Labor Day holiday for work. The actual holiday falls on my day off but I get paid for it like everyone else. That means they have to give me a different day off. I love it.

SGSS W6 D3

No warm up, just straight to the bar.

OHP
45 x 10
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 5 x 3 sets
superset with
BACK EXTENSION
BW x 20
25 x 15
35 x 12

INCLINE CABLE FLY
50 x 5
90 x 5 x 3 sets
50 x 10 1.5 reps

LATERAL CABLE RAISE (21s)
20 x 10F/10T/10B
20 x 8F/6T/8B
Ouch. Had to do some abs before my final chest exercise to let my delts recover a bit.

AB CRUNCH MACHINE
125 x 10F/10T/10B x 2 sets
AB cramp!

TORSO ROTATION MACHINE (1.5 reps)
70 x 10 ea

MACHINE Bench (1.5 reps)
90 x 10 x 2 sets
It occurred to me mid set that I can do 1.5 reps at the top or bottom of the rep so I did one set of each. I’ve been doing all of them at the top half (double contraction) but CT’s Complete Power Look has you do them in the bottom half of the squat. It works both ways. It’s nice to double up on the stretch of the muscle.

Off to church and then to my folks house to lounge my the pool. It’s been sunny and 95+ deg F the past few days. I make plans to go to the pool and it’s supposed to be overcast with a chance of rain.

5 Likes
2641

Man, just when things were getting tough with your hip and the diet, the universe threw you a bone. I love it when things like that happen. Enjoy your day off

1 Like
2642

How’s your shoulder? No issues with OHP, only flat movements?

1 Like
2643

Yes. It’s strange. It’s better with flat movements but it still let’s me know it’s there. I’m tempted to start flat benching again on week 7 but it’s supposed to be heavy triples–probably not the best way to start up again.

2644

9.3.18

Happy Labor Day!

(Except to all the people on welfare. Fuck you.)

Morning weight unknown because I didn’t want to know. However, I stepped on the scale at the gym after my workout. I wanted to try the handheld bio electrical impedance thingy to check my body fat so I had to get a weight. It was 258.8 lbs. I used 255 for the body fat test. Came in at 18.8%.

I did some math. 250 @ 18% is 206.6 lbs of LBM.

My old goal of 220 @ 12% would be 193 lbs of LBM. Maybe someday I can get to 12% with 206 lbs of LBM.

I’m not sure which of those is better because 43+ lbs of fat is a lot…

SGSS W6 D4

WARM UP
0.5 mile jog in 5:30 on the treadmill and some hip mobility stuff while waiting for a squat rack.

RFESS
bar x 5
95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 5 x 5 sets ea

BOX SQUAT 21.5ish"
225 x 3
305 x 5 x 5 sets
RFESS gave me a bit of a lower back pump. That plus last week’s injury led me to wear the belt for these and deads.

DEADLIFT (fingers crossed)
225 x 3
315 x 2
375 x 5 x 5 sets
Belt made a huge difference. These sets felt faster than usual.

LYING LEG CURL (1.5 reps)
80 x 15, 10

LEG EXTENSION (1.5 reps)
120 x 12, 10

TABATA GOBLET SQUATS
45 x 4 rounds (13, 12, 11, 11)
Thought of what I told @flappinit to do but I’d already done leg extensions. I couldn’t find a bar or space so I settled for the goblet variation. 4 rounds was enough. I didn’t enjoy holding the damn DB between rounds.

Holiday hours at the gym are 7-12 for the ones without an outdoor pool and 12-5 for the ones that do. I was lazy this morning so I went to one right at opening time at noon thinking it’d be pretty empty. Boy, was I wrong! It sucked. I couldn’t even get a 40lb straight or EZ curl bar. I almost had to bump people to get to the DB rack. I was lucky to get a squat rack once but no chance to find one for Tabata squats.

My hip hurts now. I had to move my feet to narrow stance even on Goblet squats to do the movement pain free. It’s not terrible doing that since it loads my quads more. It’s tough to hit any kind of depth on a back squat though. I nearly fell over a couple times during my last cycle of SGSS. I’m not sure what to do. I’d like to squat again someday. Kind of tough to hit a lifetime goal when you can’t do the movement.

Don’t be surprised if I hit a 600 lb deadlift before I squat 405 lbs, @losthog.

The number of people in the gym who squat 405 is pretty high. The number of people who Deadlift 600 lbs is much smaller. :wink:

6 Likes
2645

9.4.18

Woke at 245.4 lbs. Dang, I really did some damage Sunday. I was under 3000 calories yesterday. Guess I should’ve cut it more.

No trip to the gym today as my daughter is home sick from school. It’s back day and I can do it in the basement with free weights. I’ve become so accustomed to cables that I don’t like training without them. I’m spoiled.

For $2500 I could buy this.

And for $4500 I could get rid of everything I have and replace it with this.

My kids like going to the Y so I don’t think I’ll ever stop going; therefore, I can’t justify purchasing either of these. But I like to dream.

2 Likes
2646

Buy buy buy Big J.
That is some pretty cool equipment

1 Like
2647

SGSS W6 D5

@ Home

PULL UPS
BW x 5 x 5
superset with
BANDED HIP ABD/ADD
Blue Band 2 x 12 / 2 x 15

PENDLAY ROW
135 x 5
155 x 3
185 x 3
195 x 5 x 5 sets

HANG SGHP
135 x 5
Tried to figure out how to explode when the bar is at my hip crease. Failed and gave up.
195 x 5 x 5 sets

DB ROW (1.5 reps)
65 x 15, 12 ea

INCLINE DB HAMMER CURL
30s x 15
30s x 8F/8B

Slow workout. Took 55 minutes. My traps still ache so I accomplished something.

4 Likes
2648

9.5.18

Woke at 244.2 lbs. I thought about taking measurements today but I’m too lazy. I’m at the halfway point in this round of SGSS anyway. I’ll just wait till the end.

I looked back at my measurements and growth from Dec to June and I’m not sure how to feel. My legs and ass grew the most. My chest or back grew a little but not as much as my stomach. It’d be nice if my chest measurement would at least match my stomach’s rate of growth.

I’m worn the F out today. My legs are sore and it’s sucking the life out of me. My traps are also sore to touch. I don’t mind that; I just wish they’d grow!

I’m beginning to wonder how this bulking is going to work out. I’ve been thinking about CT’s muscle migration theory where he thinks the body has a limit to how much muscle it will hold. Training can shift that around but it won’t add more muscle overall. I’m tempted to decrease my leg work and try to let any new muscle go to my upper body. I’m satisfied with my leg size but I’d like to increase the yoke muscles.

I don’t think I need to add any extra leg work to the original SGSS program. From now on I’ll probably do RFESS, box squat, deadlifts, and RDLs or power cleans. I might drop the burnout work. My next leg workout will be the first day of phase 3 which is triples so volume will be low.

1 Like
2649

I’ve missed this muscle migration idea in CTs writings entirely. On T-nation or his site?

2650

He first shared it in his forum but I think this is the official article. It’s his theory based on his first hand experience with different training methods.

1 Like
2651

SGSS W6 D6

2 LAP DYNAMIC WARM UP
Hamstring feeling better during the build up run. I was able to move faster than a jog.

OHP
45 x 10
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 5 x 5 sets
Extended rest to 75 seconds. Apparently having traps that are trashed is not good for OHP.

INCLINE CABLE FLY
50 x 5
90 x 5 x 5 sets
50 x 10F/10T/10B
50 x 10F/6T/6B

DB OHP (1.5 reps)
30 x 15, 8, 6
Trashed

INCLINE DB BENCH (double rest/pause)
60’s x 12-4-3
15 deep breaths between sets.

CONDITIONING
55 Rep Barbell Complex
Load: 75 lbs

  • Hang Clean x 5
  • Reverse Lunge w/ Clean Grip x 5 ea leg
  • BTN Push Press x 10
  • Squat x 10
  • High Pull x 10
  • RDL x 10

Round 1: 1:50
Rest 4 minutes
Round 2: 1:54

I called it a day there. Just had two burrito size tortillas and used them for wraps. Three ounces of deli style chicken, pepperjack cheese, mayo, and spinach leaves. It totaled a little less than 800 calories for both. It’s been about 45 minutes since I ate those and I’m starving already.

Random Note: I decided to measure my arm before I headed to the gym. I measure by holding my arm parallel to the ground and keeping everything relaxed. I measured my right bicep/tricep and it was 41cm or just over 16". I think that’s a little bit bigger than my June check-in.

Now I’m going to plan out my next six weeks of training. I read today’s featured article about how and when to use variety. It used three week blocks in its examples which is perfect for me. I’m not going to do anything crazy but I’m going to pick specific assistance exercises and techniques and stick with them for three weeks straight before switching. I’ve been just kind of winging it thus far.

I might also use that approach on my next round of SGSS and borrow some info from Dark Horse. I could do deficit deads on phase one, snatch grip on phase two (or vice versa), and conventional deads on phase three. For squats I could so something similar or just lower the height of my box from one phase to the next. The short version is going from less specific to more specific as the program progresses. End of randomness…

5 Likes
2652

I like the idea, however the DH made you do the competition lift/setup, together with the variation lift. This I suppose is to make sure your body remembers the pattern for the main lift.

2653

I think deficits and snatch grip deads are close enough to conventional deads that it wouldn’t matter.

Front squats don’t always transfer to back squats. Split squats might not either.

Another reason to do it is to change the movement pattern just a bit. A small change might help with longevity.

3 Likes
2654

9.6.18

Woke at 244.0 lbs. I’ve been at 2800-3000 calories for three days straight and haven’t dropped into the 243s. That’s disappointing. I thought I was eating close to 4000 calories too gain and figured maintenance was around 3500 calories.

If I have to go hungry with 3000 cals just to maintain 244 lbs then cutting weight down the road is going to suck. But based on what I read yesterday in the article about the gal who spent a day in the body chamber, my body could adjust based on what I eat. Some people burn more calories when they eat more instead of storing it. But some don’t. I hope I have at least a little bit of the traits from the former.

3 Likes
2655

9.7.18

Woke at 244.4 lbs.

SGSS W7 D1

2 LAP DYNAMIC WARM UP

RFESS
95 x 3 x 2 sets
115 x 3
135 x 3 x 3 sets

BOX SQUAT 21.5"
225 x 3
275 x 3
325 x 3 x 3 sets

DEADLIFT
225 x 3
315 x 3
395 x 3 x 3 sets

POWER CLEAN
195 x 3 x 3 sets
I’m rusty on these. I might need to move them up in the workout.

CONDITIONING

Row 125 m (:28) rest :28
Row 250 m (1:00) rest 1:100
Row 500 m (1:52) rest 1:52
Row 1000 m (4:10)

I hit the wall on the 500 m round and can’t believe I finished that fast. I tried to pick up the pace as I went on the last round but there wasn’t much in the tank to finish. My hip flexors are angry.

5 Likes
2656

That’s a tough one on the rower.
Might try it as a finisher.

1 Like
2657

T-Nation said it would burn fat… I tried. The 125 and 250 rounds were easy… the 500 was a bit long and I really didn’t want to do the 1000 m row. I just started nice and steady because I knew I’d burn out. It was nice to be close to the same pace for all rounds though.

1 Like
2658

9.8.18

Woke at 245.4 lbs.

SGSS W7 D2

(Lunch Break Session)

NEUTRAL PULL UPS
BW x 8, 8, 6

45 DEG BACK EXTENSION
BW x 20
45 x 10 x 2 sets

CABLE TWIST
60 x 10 ea x 3 sets

PENDLAY ROW
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3 x 3 sets

LYING LEG RAISE
2 x 15

LAT PULL DOWN
220 x 3 x 3 sets

CABLE ROW (21s)
150 x 10F/10T/10B
150 x 8F/8T/8B
Holy crap these hurt so good.

SA REV CABLE FLY (21s)
20 x 10F/10T/10B
30 x 10F/10T/10B

REVERSE CABLE CURL (21s)
80 x 10F/10T/10B x 2 sets

Time: 35 minutes

This turned out to be a great session. I did more than I planned by throwing in the pull ups at the start. This is supposed to be my shorter day but it feels like I did quite a bit of work by smoking myself with the 21’s. I really wanted to quit after one set of reverse fly’s and curls. Next time around I plan to do 3 sets. I’m not sure if it’s necessary though. CT’s Best Damn program has a couple working sets and then one set where you hit failure. It might be just as beneficial to hit failure on the second set and just call it good there.

2 Likes
2659

The good thing about the snatch grip is the upper back work that builds big massive backs. I love the snatch grip movements.

2 Likes