Thanks. I just push my chest way high and pin my shoulder blades down so at least I look like I have a barrel chest.
Got to push with the hips. I notice them a bit past parallel but oddly enough what I need to think about is pushing my knees out both on the eccentric and concentric.
No, I Zercher’ed the split squats.
@BOTSLAYER that makes sense and fits in with the energy levels. I sort of felt drained on rest says when I dropped to 2500, but that stopped after a couple of weeks. This time nothing felt different for a few days then bam! It’s good, finally feels like the drop is working.
A pattern seems to be emerging in this leader phase:
Repeat.
Keen to get back to PR sets and less volume on assistance but not in the sense of being in a rush to finish this and next cycle. It’ll just be nice to go in focusing on the main lift without knowing I have a silly number of reps of assistance to do. Oh, and while in the subject of PR sets I’m very much leaning towards a week one and two cap of eight and five respectively across all lifts to keep on top of recovery while being able to go to town on week three. This relates mostly to squat and a bit to DL more than bench, because while I’m happy with bench progress at the moment and confident it’s improving I’m realistic about what my bodyweight is doing to rep capacity.
I’m thinking about playing with hook grip more too, simply because it’ll let me stay in position better. If I’m not wrong as long as I get over the discomfort I should be sweet, anything else @BOTSLAYER? I think I’ll try getting around half my sets done with hook grip going forward.
I am going to try this.
Discomfort and thumb callouses. The discomfort will go away before the callouses are ready but you should be able to tell when you are about to lose one and that’s it for that day.
Leader, cycle 2, week 2
More shitty-ish sleep, but feeling good all the same. Well, kind of. Workable. Leaning out seems to continue. Not sure if less energy is due to shit sleep or lower calories or both. Either way, I just have to deal with it.
Today’s training
Lazy lifter plus shoulders
Bench press
30 pull aparts between first three warmup sets
5x181 lbs, under 6 RPE - leg drive bang on, felt weightless
5x209 lbs, maybe just under 6 RPE
5x236 lbs, 7 RPE - tried unracking with one plate short on a side. Interesting
3x8x181 lbs, under 6, 7 and 8 RPE respectively - triceps fried
Log press 50 total reps at 110 lbs: 9 strict/8 leg drive (I think, thought I’d filmed so didn’t count too well and then realised I hadn’t filmed), 7/4, 9/3, 8/4
Cleans messy, pressing felt good but I was leaning back a fair bit. Triceps the limiters again, maybe front delts too. Either way, this was fucking cardio.
T-bar rows 100 total reps at 100 lbs: 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
Head spinning after each set on these and bang on cue the ‘why the fuck am I doing this to myself’ dialogue started. To get better is why. I think that’s what I love about T-bar rows: they make my back feel like Kroc rows, except I can do multiple sets without quite dying.
Supersetted hammer curls/BB shrugs
Curls 50 total reps at 30 lbs: 16, 13, 13, 10
Shrugs 100 total reps at 220 lbs: 25, 27, 15, 21, 14
Running on fumes and intra workout carbs by now.
Stationary bike sprints 10 x 40 sec off/20 sec on
Hard on my quads but barely made me breathe heavily, weird.
As usual, hardest day of the week. Poor sleep for several days isn’t helping, of course.
Looking forward to tomorrow.
Oh, and before I forget again (like I have the last four or so times), I’ve been getting dizzy spells on and off (usually after getting up from sitting) and that makes my hear rate rise for a bit. This started a couple of months ago and I’m putting it down to either low blood pressure due to the heat/dehydration or low blood sugar. Either or. So far nothing terrible.
Kill the water, drink a gallon, and make sure you are using enough iodized salt.
If you think it’s blood sugar, lay off the high GI carbs.
But, I suspect it’s dehydration, so not just water but salt too. I’ve started drinking chicken broth and it helps with hydration.
@Destrength not sure how I missed this, apologies.
Sure, why not. I’m not really going to be training my FS as a main lift but it’s pretty much always in the mix so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.
Yes, those are Romaleo IIs, I’ve had them for ages (well, since 2014) but I stopped using them around mid 2015. Great shoes all around.
Prepare to go down!
I foresee a 450 front squat in my future (assuming no set backs). I know I should get 405 by the end of this cycle, then I could probably get into the summer with a 420 front squat, then I have a summer to just lift, eat, and sleep. Dunno, I actually have to clean and jerk, snatch, and pull too, so we’ll see.
Has your clavicle become immune yet? Mine no longer becomes irritated.
I’m definitely looking at 402 lbs at some point, then I want 440 lbs. No clavicle issues for me, but I only do them once a week.
[quote=“MarkKO, post:1486, topic:208986”]
Hard on my quads but barely made me breathe heavily, weird[/quote]
So accurate.
Finally a decent sleep! Everyone from munchkin to me was tired enough to pass out and stay passed out. Happy days.
Nick and the two Toms showed up to train. I hadn’t told them, but it seems like they figured I’d be there and wanted to train. They’re good kids.
Today’s training
Lazy lifter
Stiff bar DL
Six pull-ups between first three warmup sets, all neutral grip because elbows. First time I’ve ever really done pull-ups and felt like they were just an exercise. I’m also sure I could have knocked out another rep or two each set despite my technique being sloppy today (which I’m putting down to my upper back being toast from yesterday)
5x363 lbs, under 6 RPE, hook grip
5x418 lbs, under 6 RPE, hook grip - stumbled between reps four and five while setting up because I got so excited hook grip was feeling good
5x467 lbs, 7-8 RPE, straps because I could feel the beginnings of a blister - rough as guts because I got lazy and my hips kept shooting up.
FSL SGDL 3x5x286 lbs, under 6 RPE across
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQNIdFhBREG/
SSB squats 50 total reps at 291 lbs: 20 (misery), 10 with one second pauses in the hole and a five second pause on the last rep, 20 (more accurately a bunch of singles with a second or so between reps to sob internally)
My abs, groin and back hated me for the first set but then felt fine
Ab wheel 50 total reps:
15 with 44 lbs, felt like my lower abs were going to separate
2 from the toes which are fucking impossible
35 just bodyweight
Seated calf raises 100 total reps at 154 lbs: 60, 40
[quote=“MarkKO, post:1495, topic:208986”]
Six pull-ups between first three warmup sets, all neutral grip because elbows.[/quote]
This paragraph.
I see through your technique. Very funny it’s hilarious. That’s the hardest way to pull.
That SSB work sounds nasty.
It is. It isn’t heavy, but by halfway or so it feels like every rep takes every bit of air I have and then some.
For DL? That was a sloppy set and I made life much harder than it had to be. Next week I’ll have to make damn sure I stay in position and sit back for at least the first three reps.
It seems like you are pulling the bar into you when you pump your legs, possibly getting in the way of how forward you want your shins (maybe you like them really vertical, I like mine forward). It’s probably from your straps pulling the bar in/keeping the bar too tight if you weren’t doing it on perhaps. I know I couldn’t pull 465 for a set of 5 that easily though (I don’t even know if I could), so take it with a grain of salt.