Taking a Diagnostic Approach

Another new log. I know it is becoming ridiculous that I have so any incomplete logs floating around and many probably believe that I should just stick with them but unfortunately for me, my OCD like tendencies prevent me from doing so.

It is not without reason why I do this, I continually find myself evolving both training wise and as a person to such high degrees that I no longer wish to associate myself with who I used to be.

However, on the other hand I also do this to make the things I record as easy to find and access as possible.

Right now I am taking a diagnostic approach to unfucking my body, identifying my weaknesses, and fixing them.

So here is to another new beginning.

Week 1

Day 1 (Wednesday)

Pre-training (Warm Up and Activation Work)

  1. Deadbug Marching - 1 x 4/side, 1 x 3/side
  2. Clamshells - 3 x 15 second holds/side
  3. Diagonal Sit - 3 x 5 second holds/side

A. Belt Squat Marching
2 x 80 steps with 60 lb KB and Blue Band
1 x 80 Pony Rides with Blue Band
1 x 80 steps with 60 lb KB and Blue Band
1 x 40 Pony Rides with Blue Band

B1. Pull ups with VBar Handle over Chin Up Bar (Alternating Sides) - Bw x 8/side, 4/side
B2. Duffin Upright Rows - 25 x 14, 9

C. Bentover Pronated KB Rows
1 x 10 with 15’s to belly button height (Hard Flexes, for lower lats and lower traps)
1 x 10 with 15’s to rib cage height (Hard Flexes, for midback)
3 Position Set:
-1 x 6 with 15’s to belly button height (Bentover, torso angle roughly 45* to floor)
-1 x 6 with 15’s to ribcage height (Stood up a little more, roughly 60* to floor)
-1 x 6 with 15’s to nipple height (stood up more, roughly 70* to floor)

Great workout. Glutes were so fried that they went numb somewhere between the second and third set which is why the pony rides were thrown in, they were an attempt to reactivate my glues. In addition to that my adductors hams were done as well.

As I type this the day after my glutes and hams are beyond sore and my adductors also clearly got plenty of love as well.


Day 2

Pre-Training (Warm Up and Activation)

  1. Deadbug Marching - 1 x 4/side, 1 x 3/side
  2. Prone Straight Leg Kickback isoholds - 3 x 15 sec holds/leg
  3. Diagonal sit - 1 x 5 sec hold right, 1 x Failure left <— discovered not only is my left hip is far tighter then my right, but also MUCH MUCH weaker
  4. Played around with some Hip Airplanes, clamshells, bird dogs, and Hip Side to Sides but no work really done; just trying to find something that made my left glute and hip fire

A. Band/Dumbbell Goodmorning
Blue band x 6
25’s + Green Band x 4
65’s + Green Band x 9, 4

B. Band Bad Girls
Black Band x 20 (Feet plated, left knees cave in, then fired and brought them in line)
Black Band x 10 (Feet off ground, Full Abduction. Resembled how Machine Bad Girls are done)
Black Band x 14 (Same form as set 1)
Black Band x 7 (Same form as set 2)

C. Valslide Leg Curls
Set 1 - Single Leg: Bw x 6/leg
Set 2 and 3 - Both Legs at same time: 2 x 6

So added a new problem to the list and found out my left hip is very very weak and tight and is without a doubt playing a role in why my left glute is inactive. This was discovered during warm ups when I was trying to do my activation exercises and I couldn’t get my left hip opened up enough to get my glute to fire when I tried to do prone butterfly/clamshells and when I couldn’t even get off the ground when doing my left side on diagonal sits.

Beyond that it was a great overall training session. Really loved the Band/DB goodmornings, it just became instantly my favorite assistance exercise. I wanted to do more volume on these but they are VERY demanding and kicked my ass.

It’s been awhile…

A few weeks ago I did a Snatch-Grip High Pull Session and it beat up my back pretty bad so I took some time off to give it a chance to heal up before I started going balls out training wise again.

To get myself back into the spirit of lifting and get the motivation and drive back that I have been lacking, I sat down and took a hard look at my training and decided I wanted to focus on hitting 500 in the deadlift again. I know this won’t happen over night, but it is what I want to do and it has been making training fun again. Here is the beginning of the journey to get there…

Week 1 - Day 1

PRE-WORKOUT:
A1. Reverse Grip Band Pull Aparts - long red band x 10 second iso hold
A2. Mace Swing x 10 per side
A3.Reverse Grip Band Pull Apart - long red band x 10 second iso hold
A4. Single-Arm Mace Swing x 5 per side

B. Bulgarian Split Squat x 5 reps with 5 second iso holds at 2/3 lockout after each rep

WORKOUT

  1. 3" ROM Sumo Block pulls (off 15" blocks)
    No belt, double overhand
    135 x 3
    225 x 2
    315 x 1

Added Belt and Straps
365 x 15 —> did 14 reps ~~ rested 15 seconds ~~ then squeaked out 1 more

  1. Deficit Sumo DL (Standing on 1 mat)
    No belt, double overhand
    135 x 1

Added Belt and straps
185 x 11 → Did 1 rep + 2 reps + 3 reps + 4 reps + 1 rep (rested 15 seconds between)

  1. Pull Ups
    Wide Overhand - 2 x 8 w. Bodyweight
    Close-Neutral - 1 x 6, 1 x 4 w. Bodyweight

  2. Bent Over Rear Delt Fly - 8’s x 20, 18, 16

  3. Band Bad Girls
    Short Black Band x 20 + 10 sec isohold at the end
    Short Black Band x 16

First “full” week of training in the books. It played out like this…

Week 1 - Accumulation Block


Tuesday

  1. Deadlift w/ 60 lbs in chains
    135 + chains x 3 (0.36, 0.40, 0.43 m/s)
    175 + chains x 5 (0.35, 0.30, 0.27, 0.25, 0.45 m/s)
    175 + chains x 1 (0. 31 m/s)
    Weights and velocity parameters were way down so I called it

Skipped marches because of how off I felt

A. Vertical Press Complex (Walking Bottoms Up KB Press → Arnold Press → Push Press)
18’s x 12 + 6 + 3
18’s x 8 + 4 + 2
18’s x 8 + 4 + 2

B. Barbell Curls (3 second negatives)
45 x 8
55 x 8
55 x 6 + 2 partials
55 x 6 + 2 partials

C. Bench Dips - 5 x 10 w. bw + black band


Wednesday (Skipped because I was still feeling beat up and exhausted)


Thursday

  1. Reverse Grip Bench
    Worked up to:
    135 x 14
    145 x 10
    145 x 10
    145 x 5 (Bar almost slipped out of hand on unrack and never recovered, so had to call it early)

95 x 40

  1. DB Chest Press Variations
    4 sets of 15 w/ 15-25 lbs rotating between supinating twist presses, squeeze presses, and pronating twist presses trying to feel my pecs
  1. Pronated DB Kickbacks - 8’s x 15, 15, 15, 15, 14

A. Close-Neutral Grip Pull Ups - Bw x 10, 10, 9, 7
B. DB Hammer Curls (Bottom Partials) - 15’s x 15, 15, 15, 20 second iso hold (20 sec rest)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFnSN3-g2suq5j6xYg02NfbwAyvxpT9kbSXsXs0/?taken-by=kjmont1104

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFnTtK1A2vHqcUoSZFAvdKLlR9OCPG-6G5EQX40/?taken-by=kjmont1104


Friday

  1. 4" Block Pulls
    Warmed up with 135, 185, 225
    275 x 7 (0.16, 0.24, .32, .36, .32, .32, 0.30 m/s)
    300 x 7 (0.33, 0.34, 0.34, 0.30, 0.38, 0.30, 0.26 m/s)
    Felt easy, but the speed was too slow. Not bad for a 50 lb improvement from the last time I did these 3 weeks ago

Missed my assistance work because I was lifting at 2 AM and I fell asleep

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFqHsKZg2ijEFmLbVhwNTj7dz-17lK9wvD1Pvs0/?taken-by=kjmont1104


Saturday

  1. Hybrid Bar Dead Squats w/ 60 lbs in chains
    70 x 4 (0.44, 0. 53, 0.56, 0. 57 m/s)
    70 x 4 0. 43, 0.47, 0.51, 0.53 m/s)
    100 x 3 (0.34, 0.53, 0.49 m/s)

130 x 5 (0.28, 0.42, 0.34, 0.40, 0.28 m/s)
130 x 5 (0.26, 0.38, 0.42, 0.41, 0.35 m/s)
140 x 5 (0.24, 0.37, 0.40, 0.37, 0.26 m/s)
First time doing these in a very long time so there is some learning curve to it

  1. Belt Squats
    138 x 15, 15, 8
    108 x 15
  1. Bosu Ball Leg Curls - bw x 15, 12, 10, 8
  2. Band Bad Girls - doubled red band x 20, 15, 12, 10

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFsZwkMA2u-KPZdNW8lWHgvPVywqCLIVclg5cI0/?taken-by=kjmont1104

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFsrh-BA2hHeHgwqJSNUL0_el91dcc9eWKWS-k0/?taken-by=kjmont1104

Week 2 - Accumulation Block


Tuesday

  1. Deadlift w/ 60 lbs in chains
    worked up to:
    2 x 5 w. 205
    2 x 5 w. 225
  1. RNT Belt Squat Marching
    Doubled Blue Bands + Doubled Green Bands + Red band around waist x 55 steps per leg
    Doubled Blue Bands + Green Band + Two Red bands around waist x 50 steps per leg
    Blue Band + Green Band + Red band around waist x 45

A. Pike Rollout - Bw x 12, 12, 12, 12


Wednesday

  1. Bosu Ball Leg Curls - Bw x 15, 15, 15, 15
  1. Terminal Knee Extensions - Blue Band x 20, 25, 30
  1. Front Squats
    Worked up to:
    165 x 3
    185 x 3

165 x 3 (briefly paused, no belt)
165 x 3 (paused for 1, 2, and 3 sec)


Thursday

  1. Reverse Grip Bench
    135 x 19
    150 x 10
    140 x 10
    130 x 10
    120 x 10
    95 x 37
  1. DB Flies - 5 x 15 w. 15’s
  2. Rolling DB Extensions - 6 x 15 w. 15’s

A. Reverse Grip Barbell Rows - 145 x 8, 8, 8, 8, 5 <–Was stupid and tried to pendlay row last set
B. Bodyweight Stretcher Rows - Bw x 12, 12, 12
C. Position Band Pull Aparts - 3 x 15 sec + 10 sec + 5 sec isoholds at chest, neck, and mouth level


Friday

  1. Block Pulls
    Tried these multiple times and I just couldn’t get it going. Took the rest of the days off