Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

No, honestly though; I really like how you prep/peaked me for both of my meets. I can see value in both methods that I did during my prep/peak for my first and second meet. I give you a shout out to my friends/family when they ask me what I am doing in the gym to prepare for the meet.
Thanks man, everything went well except that poverty bench of mine. Just started a new program that I’m hoping to run for 8 weeks.

2 Likes

Ok, so here we entering a new 8 week chapter of this log. I’m planning on running a 3-day, Full body, Hypertrophy plan by Jeff Nippard. I’ve been searching around for a 3-day per week program as free time over the next while will be harder to come by. I stumbled across this plan, and I liked the looks of it. It still revolves around the big three, but much more emphasis on the assistance and higher rep work. I’m hoping that I can manage to add some more mass through this 8 week phase, and might consider running it a second time depending on my results/review of the program.

11/27/2018
SSB Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 6
365 x 6
365 x 6 ← RPE8

SUPERSET
Bench - pausing each rep
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8 ← RPE9

Wide Grip Pullup - red mini band around my feet to assist
10
10
10

SUPERSET
RDL - Toes on 5lb plate
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10

I actually got a little light headed from the RDLs (too much cardio!).

BW Dip
10
10
10

Ugly power cleaned the 225lbs up from my RDLs for the calf raises

SUPERSET
Standing Calf Raises - toes on 25lb plate
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10

Dumbbell Supinated Curl
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10

Workout took 1hr 5mins. Great pump, and didn’t mind the full body workout.

7 Likes

Keep the full body work and switch over to circuits/complexes in January. Hopefully I’ll have a successful log for you to review because I’m going full body with a CrossFit influence.

Traditional WODs don’t always meet my needs and some things just flat out hurt my broken body. I’m making my own Metcon WODs with a shoulder emphasis.

2 Likes

11/29/2018
Full body - W1 D2
DB Flye - On incline bench
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10

DB Skullcrusher - On slight incline bench
20lbs x 10
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12

Crunches
15
15
15

T-Bar Rows
1plate x 10
2plates x 10
3 plates x 12
3 plates x 12
3 plates x 12

Military Press
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8 ← I was actually getting damn close to failure here.

I showed up to the gym and there were two pals doing a killer squat workout. I left them to it and just did all my assistance first. Their barbell broke, so we are down to just mine now (I have another in storage I will bring over at some point). Once they finished I got my OHP in, but I was also supposed to deadlift. I ended up watching my buddy compete in his lumberjack competition that was being rerun on TSN2 (I was at the live event, but cool to see him interviewed and stuff), rather than deadlifting.

Program is feeling good, it will definitely be a learning experience for me using a full body program. It will be a little different than what I’m used to for rotating intensities through the weeks.

It felt good to push weight overhead again. I’m hoping that adding the OHP back into the rotation will help my bench out as well.

8 Likes

12/01/2018
Full body W1 D3

DB Walking Lunge - weight per hand x reps per leg
50lbs x 10
50lbs x 10
50lbs x 10

I can’t remember the last time I’ve had single leg work actually programmed into my training, so this will be a nice change of pace.

DB Incline Press
50lbs x 10
80lbs x 8
80lbs x 8
80lbs x 8

Right shoulder is definitely my weak pressing shoulder. Lots of noise in the shoulder joint, and a definite lack of stability. I notice this when benching as well, which could be a big issue holding me back. I’ve been creeping through some of @FlatsFarmer 's posts, because he always posts such a great collections of tips/videos for rehabbing various injuries. I’m going to try and work on my shoulder this off season and get it firing properly (easier said than done, I know).

Supinated Chinups - red band around feet for assistance. Really pulling elbows down to sides. Focusing on TUT during these reps.
10
10
10

Barbell Hips Thrusts
225lbs x 0.75
Nope. Felt like I was going to tear an ab during this. I just tossed 225lbs on here expecting it to be easy since I see women online repping 3 plates on this…humbled.
135lbs x 12
135 x 12
135 x 12

One of the guys at my meet had said that my hip pain from sumo deads could be a glute weakness, so I’m going to try and push the weight on these hip thrusts over the next few weeks to see if I can target some weak glute muscles and bring them up to snuff.

Seated Face Pulls - red mini
12
12
12

DB Lateral Raise - leading with pinky on the concentric portion
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10

Lying Leg Curls - red mini band
12
12
10 ← hams were shaking, even reps 8-10 were only 3/4 reps.

Good workout, a little easier overall than the previous two in the week. So it looks like Mon/Wed will focus more around the big lifts, then Friday is primarily DB work.

I’ve been feeling some moderate DOMS all week from this increase in volume. So lets hope this translates into some nice slabs of muscle before I start dieting down for this transformation challenge.

8 Likes

I was starting to worry I was just irritating people with those posts.

3 Likes

Nope, I’ve been secretly bookmarking a few of them for future reference!

1 Like

Thanks for saying so man. I’ve noticed a few studly dudes mentioning spending time working on the little things lately, so I feel less crazy.

Anyway, congratulations on your great meet, nice PRs and really beautiful lifts. But you can see that little right elbow wiggle at the bottom of your 2nd bench and how much lower back you use on that 3rd deadlift. If some silly light work can clean those issues up, it’s like free pounds on your total.

2 Likes

Thank you very much. I was quite happy with the meet, but definitely feel that the body wasn’t working at 100% (I noticed the bench arm wiggle, but hadn’t really thought about the lower back on the DL). Like you said, there are some free lbs out there for me to grab!

Any recommendations for solving the deadlift issue?

Here is your post that I bookmarked to hopefully help my shoulder out:

The Deadlift could just have been a timing thing. Maybe you were excited and started to straighten your back before you got your legs straitened.

Or it could be related to the glute situation your friend mentioned. Rather than weak glutes, a tight “upper glute” (Glute medius) could be trying to “take over.” If this were happening, it could put you in a position where your bigger stronger glute max couldn’t work properly. You may be able to feel this during your barbell hip thrusts. If your hips or knees feel uneven or assymetrical I would try to roll out your entire “upper side ass and hip” and see if it has any effect.

2 Likes

Nope. It’s just tough to apply all the information that you provide. I’m still trying to figure out what I need to do to fix myself, but all of your posts have been informative and have me pumping the brakes on my regular training with the hopes of healing up.

3 Likes

Good good! Some times it’s hard to figure out how to put together all the info in my own head. Often different dudes focus on different parts of the problem or issue.

Feedback from actual lifting dudes is great to try to work things out. After talking to you guys yesterday and this morning it seems super clear that we can have at least 2 types of hip issues.

Psoas/hip flexor tightness pulling “in” on the hip. Your knee twists “in” and your groin or inner thigh is tight. Hip flexor is pulled short and stretching it works. You gotta get on the muscles inside your leg/Hip.

Glute/tfl/periformis pulling “out” on your hip. Twisting you “open” or bow-legged. Your strong glutes pull your poor hip flexor into a long, uncomfortable position. Stretching the already stretched hip flexor just hurts. You gotta get after the muscles outside the hip/leg.

4 Likes

Ah, my little mini-hitch looking thing at the top. Yeah, that was somewhat intentional. I’d been having some hook grip issues when my fingers came into contact with my thighs at the top of my deadlift and would start to peel off my grip, so I left the bar out in front a bit more than usual to ensure I got it to the top before hitting complete lockout. Made for an ugly finish, but got the job done, fortunately.

I seem to get more relief from using a lacrosse ball on my outer glutes/hips than stretching my hip flexors, so this may be my issue.

My massage therapist has commented a few times on how tight my hip flexors are (feel like guitar strings), but I suppose this could be caused by my glutes putting them into a long/stretched position rather than them actually being tight and pulling my hips in.

Also, I’m not sure if it is an indicator of any of these issues or not, but I would consider myself to have mild/moderate anterior pelvic tilt.

1 Like

Excellent!

People mention weak glutes and tight hip flexors as the cause of ATP. Maybe that applies to bros with tight psoas.

But Glute Girls with big strong butts get ATP too. Often they have round “upper glutes.” jmaier mentioned last week how Glute girls are always over-focused on their Glute medius. I could post 1 million pictures of big butts and over arched lower back and ATP hips. Maybe we’re on to something.

2 Likes

I don’t know if the glute girls’ training causes ATP or if they just do it with their posture because it makes their ass look bigger. I love this meme:

I know from experience that you can mess up your posture by trying to stand a certain (and wrong) way. I think I used to put myself in ATP intentionally when I was thinking about it because I thought it was necessary to get my spine in alignment (head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, etc). I thought if I didn’t exaggerate that then I’d have that head forward posture that so many men have.

I later learned that my lumbar and cervical spine are pretty straight. Perhaps I didn’t crawl enough as a baby so I didn’t develop the curvature that is ideal. Anyway, the end result is that I don’t have perfect posture, but it’s my anatomy.

I guess that was a long way of saying the glute girls probably force ATP rather than developing it through their training.

4 Likes

12/04/2018

Woke up this morning at 219.6lbs. Not bad, plan on sticking around the 220lb mark until the new year when I start cleaning up the diet. I’ve been loving eating loosely, eating some fast food, and enjoying regular adult beverages, but I’m ready to turn it around and dial it back in.

I’m expecting to get back down around 205lbs again this year, and uncovering what this year of powerlifting has done for my physique.

Full Body W2 D1

SSB Squats
135 x 6
225 x 6
315 x 6
365 x 6
365 x 6
365 x 6

Last week I only did 2 sets at 365lbs and it felt much heavier than it did this session. These reps all felt pretty smooth.

SUPERSET
Wide Grip Pullups - red mini band assistance
10
8
8

BW Dips - slow ecc., explosive conc.
12
10
10

SUPERSET
Standing Calf Raises - with SSB, toes on two 25lb plates
225lbs x 10
225lbs x 10
225lbs x 10

Supinated Bicep Curls
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10

Romanian Deadlifts - toes on 5lb plates
225lbs x 10
225lbs x 10
225lbs x 10

Bench Press
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 6

I got all 8 reps for the 3 working sets last week. Didn’t have them this week. I’m going to say that is because I did bench at the end of the workout (working around two other guys in the gym tonight…who of course, both had bench day).

Good workout. Ended up taking around 1hr 10mins.

9 Likes

12/06/2018

Full Body W2 D2

DB Flyes - Slight incline
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12

Crunches
15
15
15

DB Skull Crusher
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12
35lbs x 12

Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 2
405 x 1
455 x 5
455 x 5
455 x 5 ← starting to feel heavy towards the end of this set. Otherwise, felt pretty good.

OHP
135 x 8
155 x 8
155 x 8

Good workout. Sharing the gym again with two others, so had to wait for awhile for the barbell to free up.

4 Likes

Saturday
~5 hours of splitting wood/clearing brush. It was a great day for it.

Sunday
1.5 hours of pond hockey. It has been a couple years now since I have laced up the skates, and boy did my legs/lungs feel it. Hoping to get out for some pond hockey as often as I can this winter.

Feeling a little chunky at the moment as I’m still enjoying the “eating loosely and drinking more than I should” holiday season.

6 Likes

Monday

Took the day off work today, do get some stuff done around the house and put some more time into studying for my interview tomorrow morning. 2.5 hour interview starting at 8am…ugh.

12/10/2018

SSB Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 6
365 x 6
365 x 6

Bench - moved hands in slightly, pinky was ~1 finger inside the rings
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8

SUPERSET
Wide Grip Pullups - red mini band assisted
10
10
10

Standing Calf Raises - on two 25lb stacked plates
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10

Supinated DB Curls
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10

Good workout. Lower back was feeling those SSB squats (a little fatigued from wood/hockey on the weekend, I assume). Skipped the RDLs. Took a little video of some pullups, to show off some back gainzz. Uploading shortly.

6 Likes
6 Likes