Per aspera ad astra (strongman Koestrizer)

If you are interested in seeing a fat meathead dying while imitating the mating call of an adult walrus then I am happy to make your day by showing you my conditioning:

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13.01.

Back was angry at me. I think it is just build up spinal compression and lack of recovery. Arching in the bench press was uncomfortable but otherwise it is manageable.

1 close grip bench press
82,5 kg x 5
92,5 kg x 3
105 kg x 6 - PR, one left in the tank

2 slingshot bench (regular grip)
115 kg x 1
125 kg x 1
135 kg x 1 - ties PR
140 kg x 0, not too greedy this time, really thought I have this.

3 chest supported t-bar row
5 x 10 with 40 kg

4 dips
6 - just goofed around a little but didn’t like how this felt

5 push ups
10 - decided against push ups. Need to figure out a good progression model first

6a dumbbell bench press
32,5 kg x 10, 9, 10

6b face pulls
3 x 20

7 bicep curls
scott curls x 10
run the rack dumbbell curls: 25 kg, 22 kg, 17,5 kg, 12.5 kg, 10 kg, 7.5 kg

Notes:

  • benching felt really light today. Happy with the PR. It is funny how my first two weeks of benching always go mediocre or bad and then in my heavy week everything works out perfectly!
  • not even disappointed that I missed 140 kg. Three plates would have been great but with how good 135 kg moved it is only a matter of time.
  • hit the infrared booth after training which felt nice on my muscles and my back. Will probably push deadlifts to the start of next week to save my back a little.

Yessir! Climbing up there.

One step at a time. Like always :wink:
If I only wouldn’t out bench my front squat so badly … That shit needs to progress!

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15.01.

Went to Hannover today. A gym I had visited before had an open day. It is the gym to which the crossfit box belongs which hosted my competition. Unfortunately we couldn’t go there.
We first took a thai boxing class. My girlfriend an me were a pretty mismatched couple for this. I am 1,88 m and she is about 1,65 m (6’2"/ 5’4") and I have about 50 kg on her. This was a little problematic. Otherwise I broke a good sweat and it was quite fun.
After that we wanted to train. I was scheduled to pull today. When we walked in I saw it: Octagonal plates! I mean there were 5 hammer strength half racks, bands, chains, good machines and stuff AND FUCKING OCTAGONAL PLATES! Pulling wasn’t an option.

1 high bar squats
100 kg x 1
100 kg x 1
100 kg x 1
110 kg x 1
120 kg x 1
130 kg x 1 (with wraps)
140 kg x 1 (with wraps) - PR!
60 kg + 40 kg in chains x 3 (beltless)
60 kg + 40 kg in chains x 3 (beltless)
60 kg + 40 kg in chains x 6

2a leg press
243 kg x 15
243 kg x 15

2b one legged leg curls
drop set. Starting with the full stack

Notes:

  • didn’t have my knee sleeves. Felt pretty awkward.
  • 140 kg isn’t that great but when you think about it, I have done back squats only once in the last 5 months and even when I squatted 150 kg low bar I am sure I would not have gotten 140 kg high bar. So in conclusion, my low bar might even be up there, when I go back to it. The focus stays on front squats though!
  • high bar felt weird and uncomfortable but I am happy to walk away with this PR.

Video:

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18.01.

Was extra tired after these three long days at work. I feel very drained.

1 axle push press
81 kg x 5
81 kg x 5
81 kg x 5
81 kg x 5
81 kg x 5
81 kg x 5
Drop set (directly after 6th set and rest only to change plates):
76 kg x 5, 66 kg x 6, 56 kg x 5

2a lat pull down (wide grip for first 4 sets, last 2 palms facing)
6 x 10 with 60 kg

2b seated dumbbell press
22 kg x 10
29 kg x 6
22 kg x 12

Notes:

  • completely done after that. Had nothing else left
  • was very tight. Couldn’t get in the proper positions for my push press. Everything felt off.
  • forearms and wrist fatigued first. Actually that was limiting me a lot more than my shoulders or triceps.
  • weight was still light, but it didn’t feel right today.
  • now sauna and then straight to bed.

19.01.

Felt like dog shit in the gym today. Couldn’t keep my eyes open. Was not up to it today.

1 sumo deadlifts
150 kg x 1 (beltless)
160 kg x 4 - PR, fourth was a massive grinder and I thought my eye balls would pop out of my head.
150 kg x 4
150 kg x 4

2a paloff-hold
3x

2b one legged deadlifts with 28 kg kettlebell
3 x 5

2c kneeling ab wheel roll outs
3 x 8

Notes:

  • Form was not good. Tightness, especially in my lats but also overall.
  • Only good thing that I can say about this day is that I could pull off 160 kg x 4 on a day that I felt this bad.
  • Need more sleep or a deload. Or both.
  • skipped conventional pulls due to the listed reasons.

Video of the deadlifts I am not happy about:

22.01.

Very quick workout as we were pressed for time.

1a close grip bench press
67,5 kg x 5
77,5 kg x 5
87,5 kg x 13

1b one arm db row
32,5 x 8
3 x 8 with 37,5 kg

2a slingshot bench press (regular grip)
105 kg x1
112,5 kg x 1
120 kg x 4, grinded like hell to get the fifth but only thing I got was a painful cramp in my hamstring

2b hs low row
3 x 10 with 2 plates per side

3 45° incline db press
32,5 kg x 9

Notes:

  • not unusual for me to be bad in the 5+ week. I just can’t perform high reps. Too much lactic acid stops further movement.
  • no time for more assistance movements.

Some thoughts on programming:

  • my body (especially my back) has given me plenty of signals thst it is about time to hit the breaks. I will finish this (next) week with heavy deads and speed squats and then I will deload on everything but the bench press.
  • furthermore I have now missed weight three times in a row with slingshot bench press. I think it is time to switch the movement out after this cycle. I think it is a great movement for strongmen and I have had good results from it. Now I have to think about a new secondary movement. In my head I have either (axle) floor press or even floor press/ bench press with my small log for even more overload on the triceps. I would like to choose a movement that has good carryover to my overhead lifts and provides a little overload or atleast can be used with similar poundage as the bench press.

I would really like to get some opinions on this. Thanks in advance.

Forced deload right now. Had to leave work yesterday because of some weird cramping pain in my lower abdomen. Actually slightly below the lower abs, between abdomen and genitals.
Pain/ discomfort increases when I stand, sit up straight and especially when I move around.
Ultrasound didn’t show anything unusual. Urine test showed that there was some blood in my urine. Doctor has no idea where it comes from and he suggested a few different theories as to where it comes from.
I am better today and pain has switched to discomfort, still I am a little unsure of what I should draw from this.
Doctor’s treatment of choice was to just wait a few days, take pain killers as needed and recheck if it doesn’t go away. That is usually his favored treatment if you are not in risk of dying or great damage, haha.

I hope to be able to train this weekend as I am visiting a friend and former colleague in Hamburg and we want to try some cool gyms, so I’d hate to have it not sorted out by then.


Other news:
My diet needs a lot of work. I have been gaining more and more weight, even though I am trying to limit bad food choices. That is why I decided to start counting calories again. I have had success with that in the past.

I have chosen my makros as follows:
3300 kcal.
413 g carbs (50%)
289 g protein (35%)
55 g fat (15%)
I might alter that to 30/ 20 protein/ fat in the future, depending on how it goes.

I don’t have a lot of experience with nutrition, so I hope I am on the right track here.

I recently started using creatine again. Although I don’t have any effect on my strength from consuming it, I was adviced to still take it for recovery. As well as zinc (never took that, don’t know if and how much I should). Might start using BCAAs again but then again I really don’t have money to spent right now, so that will probably left out.

Goal is to lose some weight/ fat slowly while retaining strength and muscle mass. As always, performance is the number one priority.

Altered that to

413 g carbs (50%)
248 g protein (30%)
78 g fat (20%)

God damn I am itching to get a barbell in my hands! It has only been 3 days since I have trained. Although that is not a lot of time, I am feeling really “unbalanced” and my whole body seems to urge me back into the cheese factory. It is not that I am bored, even though being out of work doesn’t help here, I feel like I need to train.
Probably not healthy to feel this way. I hope to have 1 or 2 sessions on the weekend. Given this whole blood-in-urine-situation sorts itself out. I am getting better though. Tomorrow I won’t have time to train anyway, which is good because it forces me to rest some more and extends my deload. Still it pisses me off!

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27.01.

Push press (barbell because I was out of town)
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3
85 kg x3

2 HS horizontal row
35 kg per side x 10
40 kg per side x 10
40 kg per side x 10
40 kg per side x 10

3 Seated db press
30 kg x 10
30 kg x 10

4 t bar row
2 x 10 with 20 kg
1 x 20 with 20 kg

5 face pulls
3 x 20 with ?

6 db curl
Drop set, starting with 26 kg.

7 curls with multi grip bar
1 set by ? With ?

Notes:

  • completely forgot the freaking drop set!!
  • everything else grooved pretty good
  • they even had an axle! But no one could say me how heavy thst is. So I ended up using a standard barbell.

28.01.

1 sumo deadlifts
150 kg x 1 (beltless)
160 kg x 1
170 kg x 2 - PR
175 kg x 1 - didn’t attempt a second rep. Felt too hard.
160 kg x 2
160 kg x 2

2 paused conventional deadlifts (pause right off floor)
90 kg x 5
90 kg x 5
90 kg x 5

3 barbell hip thrusts (on floor)
90 kg x 12
90 kg x 12
90 kg x 12

4 kneeling ab wheel roll outs
3 x 10

Notes:

  • my judgement has been pretty bad lately. On the other hand 170 kg was no real problem. Didn’t want a rep that is too bad though and 175 kg felt hars enough as a single.
  • I think I would also benefit from paused sumo deads
  • didn’t like today’s gym

Video footage of this weekend’s push press and deadlifts workout:

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30.01.

Arrived at the cheese factory at 10 pm today. I normally would have rested today but the next two days I won’t be able to train, so I thought I might squeeze in a quick workout today. Better than nothing.

1a close grip bench press
75 kg x 5
85 kg x 5
95 kg x 11

1b db row
29 kg x 10
29 kg x 10
29 kg x 10

2 floor press with log - not a useless movement but not the worth the trouble on the unrack
70 kg x 6

3 floor press with axle
76 kg x 5
86 kg x 5
96 kg x 4
96 kg x 3, dropset to: 76 kg x 7
76 kg x 12

Notes:

  • nope to both movement for now.
  • my back has been giving me some trouble lately. I am aware that my deadlift form isn’t the greatest but I think it mainly is a programming issue. So I need to rethink what I am doing. Especially lower body wise. Upper body will stay. Only need to figure out my new bench day setup.
  • effort on the close grip was actually not that bad.

I am really out of ideas for programming my front squats and deadlifts.
Right now I am thinking about doing this for deadlifts The Simple Deadlift Program and this for my front squat 12 Weeks to Ridiculous Wheels . I am not really sure though. I would really like to get some ideas.
I don’t want to do 5/3/1 again for now but I don’t seem to be able to program for myself.

I ran this for my deadlift back in November/December and really enjoyed it so I’ve just started running it again. I remember @MaazerSmiit saying he really liked it too.

A 6-Week Squat, Bench, or Deadlift Program

Hey man, thanks for the suggestion! Definitely looks interesting and I will take it into consideration.
How much did you improve your deadlift with this routine?

I am still on the fence of switching back to conventional deadlifts. If I was to make the change, I would stand before the problem that I am not used to them. In this scenario, would you still advise me to do the program?

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Don’t start over thinking things man. I too tend to over complicate things once in awhile and end up back to the basics after I run in circles for a month or two.

Keep things simple and just follow a proven program like any of the ones you or @furo posted. Trust it, give it all you have without changing it and results will come.

Look after your health first and foremost though, don’t make a small issue big by being negligent. You have great work ethic, just need to find the right mindset for long term progress.

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