Pookie's Got a New Log

A set of fatbells was cheaper because they don’t come in 5 lb increments than conventional dumbbells. Between that and a couple of exchanges online with Donnie Thompson, I took a leap of faith and I was sold. I bought them and couldn’t be happier. I’m now spoiled and hate regular dumbbells.

2/21/19 Rep Effort Deadlifts
4x2 405
Drag prowler w/ 60 lbs
Farmers Walk 80 lbs/hand (4x)
Landmines 30 reps
Hanging leg raises 2 sets

3/8/19 Let it Burn OHP day (offshore)

So I missed logging a week of training and then I missed a week of training for work training (not too happy). Today I needed to feel like I did something even if it’s an offshore work out. Plus I got pissed because someone moved the smith machine to where you can’t even OHP on that from a standing position anymore. So to recap, I have no place to do standing OHP with a barbell while offshore. This will not stand. Or I won’t while pressing OH. In any event, away we go.

Seated OHP
45 2 x 10
135 2 x 8
155 1 x 5
185 1 x 3
205 1 x 2
185 1 x 2
165 1 x 5
155 1 x 5
145 1 x 8
135 1 x 8

Facepulls
70 5 x 20

Tomorrow night looks like a good accessory night.

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03/09/19 Upper Body Accessory Day

Close Grip Incline Bench Super setting with Smith Barbell Rows
3 x 8 185 bench
3 x 10 255 row

Standing Triceps Extension Supersetting with Cable Ab Twists
4 x 25 90 for triceps and 110 for abs

A day behind on my log- rested 3/10.
3/11 Deadlift

Worked up to a 515 single a bit aggressively. Probably could have eased into it a little more. Either way, it felt good. Called it a night so I could get some sleep.

3/12 Baby’s Got Back Hypertrophy Work
Lat pulldowns
6 x 8 180 lbs
Seated cable rows
6 x 8 180
Seated Dumbbell Cleans
6 x 10 31
Facepulls
6 x 12 140

3/13/19
Conditioning Day
Kettlebell Swings (60-lb)
Rep Pyramid Down starting at 20
10 minutes on bike keeping heart rate around 130

3/15/19 Bench Day
It’s been a while since I did an actual bench press. Worked up to a 335 double without too much of a problem and then hit 3 sets of 3 at 365 with a slingshot for some overload work. They just got a new bench out here and it’s a Rogue with a Thompson Fat Pad. Super sweet. If there’s ever a Nobel Lifting Prize, Super D should be the first recipient.

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3/16/19 Bench Accessory Day

Incline close grip bench
225 1 x 6
205 3 x 6
185 1 x 6
165 1 x 6
155 1 x 8
145 2 x 8
135 1 x 8

Kettlebell Clean and Press (1 side at a time)
3 x 8 60

DUR Cable Rows
4 x 20 80

Feeling good. Tired but good.

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3/18 DE Deadlifts

8 x 2 335 (~60%)

3 x 5 barbell rows 335

Feel bloated as hell. Think I’m going to try cutting back on dairy and see if it helps. I’ve been gassy the past couple of days and my belt was a bit too snug. Big difference between onshore and offshore is I drink a lot more milk offshore which might be bloating me up. We’ll see after a couple of days.

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One workout behind on logging.

3/21 Kettlebell Day
5 x 8 per side kettlebell cleans (60 lbs)- completed ~20-min

3/22 ME OHP Day
Tried moving my legs out a little more on my stance so I could do a full standing OHP offshore and it worked (barely).

10 x empty bar
5 x 135 (elbow sleeves)
5 x 165
5 x 185 (added loose belt)
5 x 215 (added loose wrist wraps)
3 x 225 (belt tight and wraps at comp tightness)
3 x 245 (easy)
3 x 265 (tweaked shoulder just a hair getting out of position coming down- new 3 rep PR by 20 lbs- had more in the tank but didn’t want to chance the shoulder)
5 x 225 (elbow sleeves and belt)
5 x 185 (belt only)

Ok… so I’m pretty stoked about a 20 lb PR on a triple. I feel like I had another 5 - 10 lbs in the tank for a triple, but I’m so paranoid about my shoulder anymore. It’ll be waiting there for me next time I get around to a ME OHP day. Apparently, looking back over my log, my body responds to a little more volume training than what I had previously been doing. I need more rep days in my life.

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3/23- The night my arms went to shit.

Upper body accessory day. Went in planning on doing kettlebell clean and press as the primary accessory. Got through 1 set on both sides of 8 and catching the clean was tearing me up. Second set I got through the right side, but missed a clean on the left and then caught a really ugly one and it just wasn’t working. Swap over to tricep cable pushdowns and hit 5 x 20 at ~140 mark. Decided I wasn’t done with my shoulders so I grabbed a 36 kg dumbell and did 2 sets of 3 that were dogshit. Walked away. That was the best thing I could do at the moment was turn and walk away.

3/24- Rest day
Trying to gain some perspective on my progress to keep motivated. As of right now, my best deadlift is from before Hurricane Harvey and my best bench press the same. I’m really aggravated. My forearm is still humming with what I assume is carpal tunnel. However, I’m well on my way to a three plate OHP which seems like a pretty elite club. I’m still fighting and I’m not ready to accept that I’ve peaked. There will be one day where I will lift more than I ever have and then I’ll never hit those weights again… but that day hasn’t come yet. In the meantime, if I can accept failure I’ll never win.

Bit of an introspective pep talk… excuse the mess.

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3/25 Rep Day for Deadlifts

4 x 3 425 (~80%)

Felt like shit starting off. Felt less like shit by the fourth set. I have a feeling that I have stalled out on deadlifts because I haven’t directly trained deadlifts enough. Getting more away from the classic conjugate template. Squatting 1200 isn’t going to do me any good for strongman if squatting isn’t an event.

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3/26 Back Day

Barbell rows
4 x 6 325
Standing Cable rows- long bar two cables
4 x 12 120 each stack
Standing rows close grip
4 x 20 120
Kroc Rows
3 x 12 110

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The week in review-
Sunday-
Got my first pulling harness and couldn’t wait to try it out. Hit about 6 rounds of pulling a 3/4 ton truck consistently hitting 4 mph. Goal is 5.

Monday-
ME deadlifts. Felt good going up until I failed at 565. Don’t know why a ME deadlift day sounded good. I also know I tried to jerk the weight off the ground and got out of my groove pretty early on. Everyone wanted to do truck pulls so we did another couple rounds of truck pulls.

Tuesday-
ME OHP with barbell. Hit 275 for a single. I had another 5 or 10 in the tank, but this was a 10 lb PR so I cut it short and went to assistance work. Did some fatbell presses with a swing on each one.

Thursday-
DE SSB squat. 205 and bands for 10 doubles. Followed up with a 20 Rep set at 245. Did some more assistance work afterwards, but that 20 Rep set afterwards took a good bit out of me. In other words, I’m making excuses for half-ass assistance work. I see heavy yoke walking and frame carrying in my future.

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My 275 OHP

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I’m by no means a strongman, or even a decent lifter, but wouldn’t you get more out of your leg drive if the bar was starting on your shoulders/collarbone as opposed to floating on your arms? Or it doesn’t really matter?

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From a pure physics perspective, it’s absolutely more efficient to have a rigid body between the two points to transmit force. A couple of considerations:

  1. I can’t actually rest the bar on my chest and maintain a good pressing position. What I do is pull the bar down hard and wedge my triceps against my lats to be as stiff as possible.

  2. I’d say watch hands. If you’re doing a deeper dip and waiting longer out of the reversal, I suspect you might be more prone to have your hands lag. I’m not saying my position is perfect by a long shot, but my hands dip only a bit at the bottom of the descent and are pressing almost immediately out of the reversal.

My two cents.

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I see. Got it. I’m still working on strict for the time being though. It’ll be a while before I try OHP with leg drive/dipping. Just trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks man! Hope the gym business thing is going well

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To be honest, I’ve heard mixed things on strict pressing. Eddie Hall has said people should focus more on it. Dimitar Savatinov said he never does heavy presses without leg drive. I did strict for a while, but when I tried to use leg drive again I had to completely relearn the skill. I couldn’t get 5 lbs out of my leg drive. Since strongman allows for leg drive, I’ve gotten away from strict pressing any appreciable weight.

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