My last log entry here was as a freshman in college. Over that time:
Stayed lifting, making new PRs
In general, not breaking, because of time / accessibility constraints and the above.
I did not, over that time, find out why ‘marrot’ was a good internet name. so this will be a point of investigation going forward.
Current assets (all PRs as of 2019)
OHP: 1x220 (not push press)
DEAD: 5x475
SQUAT: 9x325 (atg all day)
DIP: 7x+130 (at least arms parallel to ground)
PULLUP: 1x+70 (eyeballs up to the bar)
DB OHP: 5x95s
DB BULG: 10x105s (opposite knee to ground)
Also, broached 16" on the arms (flexed).
Current liabilities (any concerns looking forward)
Knee tweak, during squat PR up there. Mostly good, will start back with light squats again. Hence the usage of rear-foot elevated split squats (DB BULG)
Right shoulder tweak, during dip PR up there. Also mostly good, will start back with light dips again after this cycle.
Felt my knee bark during the 315 squat but nowhere else. Injuries always force me to tighten up technique and come back better. I left some in the tank today.
thanks duke. +don’t slay me tho, please. again,tyx12
Heavy pull-ups. Hoping to make my working weight here comparable with what I dip.
PULL-UP
3x3xBW
6x+25
5x+45
1x+70
1x+75
3-5 sets of 3-6 at each of +45, +25, and BW
T-BAR ROW
3x8-12 at 50 and 75, just for the feel.
I felt done once I did the pull-ups. Going home my upper back had this fatigue, not just a burn or a pump but a real fatigue.
Heavy pull-ups have made me more confident and precise on the bar. Once I back off to BW I can just pull myself up so much faster. This week might see a more higher rep day.
Delts. aka: deltrons, deltons, deltors, deltadons. that said:
DB OHP
1-2x3-5 with 40s, 60s, 85s
6, 3, 2x95s
One-arm raise
2 sets, dropset with 10 lbs and 5 lbs, from strict tempo form down to cheat reps
Cable is better than DB for these by far; gives constant tension.
One-arm DB OHP
15x40
15x40
15x30
Target of 15 reps was forced. First 12-13 strict, then let the legs do a little nudge to squeeze more reps out.
Assistance sets add up when they’re unilateral. Takes 10 sets to do five sets.
Leg, side raises
2x30 on right side (injured side)
Ab crunchies
12-15 x 80, 87.5, 95
rep out on sit-ups, got 10.
This is really the tail end of the knee injury story. The backstory is that I felt this twinge while hitting some squat PRs as far back as November last year. I kept things moving by opting for deadlift PRs instead through winter 2018, all the way up to April 2019. It wasn’t until I ended that deadlift cycle that I committed to fixing this knee pain.
Not medical advice, only my story: My knee pain turned out to be a combined hip / knee tightness that I exacerbated with heavy, deep, frequent squatting. I consulted both a real PT, as well as that book, “Becoming a Supple Leopard”. Really, I have to credit both with my rehab progress so far.
Both the real PT and “BASL” had some really legitimate information:
Strengthen the hip abduction
Tighten your back-end
But they both had some floofy stuff as well:
Electric stim
High-deductible payments
Evangelical knees-out + feet-forward squatting
So the takeaway was that I am ultimately responsible for my well-being, and anyone I ask may be helpful, but will absolutely take the opportunity to milk a dollar and an endorsement.
Biggest takeaway is just that these heavy pull-ups make the light ones feel so strict, controlled, and tight. I know I could wake up at 2am and rep them out. I approach heavy pull-ups like I approach a heavy press.
After that max set my elbows were shot. I didn’t realize how much strain they got from doing heavy pull-ups, and how much that strain would carry over.
I’ll probably do tomorrow off and back Saturday, for the same workout. Might want to just hit those 100s already and call this heavy cycle done before I hurt myself.
sqot. I’m moving my workouts to the morning. I gotta say it took more time to feel warm and in the groove. So what’s it mean if the sets that I might call ‘post-heavy pump work’ get frontloaded to ‘pre-heavy warm-up work’? Anyways:
Really short day, ran out of gas wayyyyyyy earlier than I’m used to. My appetite has been up, but I think it’s been too high-fat over the past couple days. Monday went so well this week I don’t know what to think. Not mad though.
Post-cycle, light pump work starts to feel like a snooze fest. I have less capacity for volume in general. But focused heavy work keeps me engaged and keeps the gains.
First time doing dips since my injury with 7x+130. Down slow, pause, up controlled.
So when I mention “post-cycle”, what I mean is that my pet fish is having a totally RAD time trying to add 140 lbs to every lift. It’s just hard to do that kind of test alone. This marks the second week of post-cycle. It looks like my strength does fall off on a step function, and so does the appetite. But if I focus in the heavy-but-sustainable range on effort (~5-8 reps), I’m able to avoid joint pain and stimulate the muscle from falling off. As well as keeping the workouts interesting.
So I see less work capacity, in volume as well as frequency lately. Fewer sets, fewer exercises, 4 sessions per week instead of 6. But if I narrow my focus to what’s important - heavy, safe compounds that are adequately fueled - I can keep the gain train moving.
I also wanna say that I’ve been having ridiculous shitoris lately. Lot of putrid gas, lot of bathroom frequency. This was probably carryover from eating out late last week. In general, I mitigate this with a few rules, like no dairy, cook my own food, keep the fiber high, limit the meat, and eat less frequently. I’ll discuss the matter occasionally because I feel like the whole gut health thing gets thrown under the bus with juvenile campaigns like “GOMAD” and “ADEAD”. Long’s you’re not still doing that crap in your mid twenties, I guess.