Velvet's Lifting and Other Fun Stuff Log

11/4/20

Climbing

Bouldering: 60 minutes

Whoa look at that, I still climb! Just did a bunch of easy stuff, stiffest problem clocked in around a V3 or so. Didn’t push too hard since I always hurt myself when I do so, trying to be smart here.

@FlatsFarmer Yeah man it’s fantastic. Was a big selling point for the house.

Volume and mileage! No idea how to keep tendons from not breaking. Start climbing at age 3? It is a very concentric only sport. I wonder what’d happen if we downclimbed in training.

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Man, I really wish I started as a kid. Or was at least more consistent when I did start as I’d have 10 years under my belt at this point, but that’s not the way it shook out haha.

I try to down climb the routes as much as I can. If it’s a harder one I’ll usually use the jugs set specifically for down climbing. I really only drop when I fail a climb. Thinking about it though, the body might be going down but the gripping doesn’t change too much.

11/5/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W2/D3 - Squats

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Burpee broad jumps:
x8

Box front squats: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
145x8
165x6
185x5

Hollow rocks:
x30s

ASSISTANCE

SSB Bulgarian split squats: (EMOM x 10)
95x3/leg
105x9x3/leg

SSB front foot elevated split squats: (EMOM x 10)
95x10x3/leg

CONDITIONING

EMOM x5 up, 60s rest, EMOM x5 down

Pull ups: 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1
Burpees: 2-4-6-8-10-10-8-6-4-2
Pushups: 3-6-9-12-15-15-12-9-6-3
Mountain climbers: 4-8-12-16-20-20-16-12-8-4

Kind of a sloppy set of front squats for that top set. Doing 8 burpee broad jumps right before definitely made it harder to hold the brace, but the bar started slipping anyway. Pretty rust at front squats, legs had plenty more reps left in them but the core/upper back did not.

Really dug the EMOM split squat approach. Could feel myself pushing harder each set as the fatigue was building, but there was always enough juice to bust out 3 reps.

Conditioning was rough. Burpees are for sure my mortal enemy. I got to the halfway point and had to take a minute because I used 56/60 seconds and I knew I wasn’t going to complete the next round in under a minute. Wound up switching to half burpees for the second half too.

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You and everyone else.

As much as I despise burpees, they’re definitely an effective conditioning tool. They just suck so, so much.

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11/6/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W2/D4 - Bench

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Pendlay row: (4 mats)
95x5
135x8
155x6
185x4

Close grip axle bench:
50x10
80x5
105x12
125x10
145x10

Plank:
x60s

Bodyweight man makers:
x30s

ASSISTANCE GIANT SETS

Neutral grip DB bench:
40x4x15

Dips:
x15
x11+4
x7+5+3
x6+5+4

EZ bar pullovers:
35x4x15

MINDSET

Pushup challenge:
1-10-1

This looked easier on paper. It was not easier in practice. I found that out during the second round of assistance when I realized my pushing muscles were getting so pumped they didn’t want to work any more.

That pushup challenge at the end was a bear. By the time I got there a single pushup was difficult haha. Wound up breaking it up into mini-sets as failure would just happen suddenly.

11/7/20

Climbing

Outdoor: 5 sport routes

Had an awesome day of climbing with some friends. Mostly easy stuff, it was a bit of a teaching day for me, but the climbs are just a ton of fun at their grade. Couldn’t have asked for better weather too.

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11/9/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W3/D1 - Deads

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Sandbag over shoulder:
150x4

Axle deadlifts:
120x5
170x3
210x3
260x8
295x6
330x4

V situps:
x15

STRONGMAN

Farmer walk:
EMOMx10 - 120/hand x50’

ASSISTANCE

Hindu squats: x300
Feet anchored sit ups: x200
Jumping prisoner squats: x100

CONDITIONING

AMRAP x 10 minutes: (4 rounds)

Close grip NG chinups: x10
Front rack BB step ups: 45x10
Burpee box jumps: x10

This was just exhausting. Decided to go for axle deadlifts instead of deficits, and I paid for that. They really won the battle today. That sandbag over shoulder did me no favors though, very challenging in its own right even at that weight.

I need some bumper plates to do farmers stat. Trying to land the iron plates on rubber mats so I don’t mess up the concrete is a pain.

Holy volume to end the workout. Was happy I didn’t need to break up any sets of chins at the end, able to knock out sets of 10 even with the oxygen debt.

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Holy hell, that is a LOT of work.

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I am so not looking forward to doing that a second and third time before the program is over. Actually, could say that about all the workouts so far haha.

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11/10/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W3/D2 - Press

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Burpee pullups:
x4
x6
x8

Axle Z press:
60x12
70x10
80x9

Hanging rainbow:
x10
x8
x7

Power clean:
135x5

ASSISTANCE

Single arm DB press:
30x4x10

Rear delt fly:
10x4x15

Crucifix hold:
5x4x60s

CONDITIONING

3 minutes max reps burpee lateral jumps

EMOM x10:
Odd - 40s heavy bag
Even - 40s jump rope

Not there today mentally, bad mood and was hoping to clear my head with some lifting but it just trashed my focus instead.

Those hanging rainbows are brutal, just tried to get as many reps in as possible before my body flipped down.

The conditioning was supposed to be 3-2-1 minutes of max reps alternating burpee lateral jumps and thrusters. I did the first three minutes and started the thrusters and called it quits after a few reps. I’d have walked away from that with more than just discomfort, wrists just aren’t equipped for that kind of deal.

Decided to opt for something I’ve been wanting to do and it finally allowed me to just focus on the task at hand. Heavy bag and jump rope is going to be a mainstay this winter.

11/13/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W3/D3 - Squats

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x3
175x10
205x8
235x6

Jump squats:
+15x10

Side plank:
x30s/side

ASSISTANCE GIANT SETS

Front squats:
135x2x5

Close stance back squat:
135x2x8

Good morning:
135x2x5

CONDITIONING

“Bring Sally Up” squats:
x95 (nope)
x45

This was probably the easiest workout as far as equipment set up goes, more on that in a minute. Right IT band area was pissed off during my warmups, wasn’t sure how the sets would go but it seemed to start agreeing with things once I started adding weights to the bar.

Cut a couple rounds of the assistance work. Elbow just can’t hack it right now, and it wasn’t worth pushing my luck.

Started with 95 on the Sally squats and that was a mistake. Wound up racking the bar and pausing the song, and finishing it out with just the bar. Should’ve used like 65 and it’d have been good. Ankle was the limiting factor there, just didn’t want to deal with that much prolonged flexion.

I came to the decision that I’m going to stop this program after this week. The two factors that lead me here are 1) the workouts can be a pain in the ass to set up and execute. I have a pretty kick ass training space, but even so, I’ve had to do a decent amount of thinking and finagling to make some of the workouts possible. 2) my elbow tendonitis is getting activated by a lot of the workouts which is pretty counterproductive to all of my goals. I could probably push through the next 6 weeks but then I’d be looking at who knows how long until they calm down, not worth it to me.

It’s disappointing, but I’m glad to have had the shot in the ass these last three weeks have been. Would definitely suggest the program to anyone looking for a serious challenge.

2 Likes

This is the main thing stopping me from doing one of Brian’s programs. I’m sure they’re not all like that, but looking at the multitude of movements with varying equipment necessities he generally has in his giant sets is a huge turn off, personally.

You’ll have to explain how those Sally squats work.

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I’ve had 3 good runs through his programs prior to this one. Difference was I used a free template from his YouTube channel which allowed me to create sessions that made sense with my space and equipment. I’m sure with a personalized one he’d do the same. They’re definitely all pretty much like this though haha.

For the Sally squats, put on “Flower” by Moby and just follow the instructions from the lyrics. You’re a fair bit stronger than me so if you do it at the end of a squat workout I’d say give it a go with 95-135.

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Just read the lyrics.

NOPE.

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LOL. You spend a lot of time in the hole.

11/14/20

Powerbuilder Perfected W1/W3/D4 - Bench

STRENGTH GIANT SETS

Meadows row:
25x10
50x5
75x3x8

Axle floor press:
50x10
80x5
125x8
145x6
165x5

Flutter kicks:
x60s

ASSISTANCE GIANT SETS

Chest supported DB row: (w/ hold at top)
50x4x5

Incline axle bench:
120x5
130x5
140x5
150x5

Band pushdowns:
4x fail

CONDITIONING

Clock face pushups: 12-1

Strong ending to my little 3 week blitz into this program. Still feel bad I’m not finishing it, but now I’m excited to have the freedom to do my own thing.

@kdjohn this is my sketchy incline bench set up. It actually felt much more solid than I thought it would, but leg drive is non-negotiable haha.

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11/16/20

Squat workout

GIANT SETS (jump - squat - core)

Box jump: (3 steps)
x3

Hands wide SSB box squats: (mats+2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x3
185x1
205x1
235x1
255x1
265x0
205x8
205x2x5

Ring fallouts: (3)
x6

GIANT SETS (squat - GM - core)

SSB front squats:
115x4x8

SSB good mornings:
115x4x8

Hanging leg raise: (arm loops)
4x8

CONDITIONING

EMOM:
Burpees x3
Lunges xAMRAP until 100 reps reached

I couldn’t decide what approach I wanted to take for my squat day with my new programming all day. I had a few ideas I was toying with, but I was having trouble getting myself to buy into any of them. I was walking down into my basement still undecided when I just said screw it, I’m going with max effort. Going to rock this for a little while and see what happens. Organizing the session Brian Alsruhe style with giant sets and then back down volume. Also going to steal a little from Pwn and repeat the same movement two weeks in a row before switching.

255 wasn’t the top set I wanted, but it was the one I got. It was slower, but not a total grind. I should’ve gone to 260 next but ambition got the better of me. I sat down to the box and when I tried coming back up my hips and head started trading places. The hands wide really limits how much the upper back can do. I can’t use the safety pins with this variation, which gave me a little scare momentarily, but I was able to Hatfield squat the rep back up. Now I know that’s in the bag for assistance work and possibly even a main variation.

If I repeat that conditioning workout I’ll need to bump the burpees up to 5 reps so they’ll be harder and take up more clock time.

11/17/20

Press workout

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins: (middle width)
BWx10
+15x5
+25x5
+35x5
+45x5

Axle press:
50x10
80x5
90x5
100x9
100x6

Band high to low chops:
x10/side

GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - pullapart)

BTN press:
75x10
75x7

Football bar press:
75x10
75x8

Axle press:
80x10
80x7

Dips:
6x failure

Lateral raise:
10x11
10x5x10

Pull aparts:
6x20

Poundstone curls: (almost)
x70+30

CONDITIONING

21-15-9-5

Alternating arms DB snatch x25
Pushups

Anyone reading this will recognize this workout from Pwns log. 100% jacked this from him and plan to ride it out for a while and see if I get any magic from it too. Put my own flavor to it by adding the core work to the main stuff, and repeating the top set rather than doing a down set.

It’ll take me a while I’m sure to get the full 100+ reps of curls in one set. I rest paused up to 70 by going 40-20-10 just holding the axle for a few breaths, but I needed to set it down for about 15-20s before I cranked out the last 30.

Arms were so pumped after that I almost skipped conditioning as they felt totally useless, but that was a solid finisher. Could probably have used the 40lb DB to make the upper body work a bit harder on the snatches.

3 Likes

11/19/20

Pull workout

GIANT SETS (jump - pull - core)

Box jumps:
x3

Mat pulls: (7)
135x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
365x3x5

Plank:
x30s

GIANT SETS (row - chin - core)

BB row:
135x3x10

OH pull up:
3x5

Dip bar L sit:
x20s

MINDSET

Axle static hold: (90s goal)
120x48s
120x34s
120x over 20s

First early AM workout in a long time. It’s gotten pretty cold in my basement, no boiler to keep it warm, curse modern plumbing right? Felt pretty sluggish, definitely a combo of overcoming the cold and just trying to lift in the morning. I have no trouble getting out of bed and starting my day, but usually that consists of making breakfast, having coffee, and then going to work where my job is to talk to people. Not a morning person in the sense that I’m ready for action haha.

Decided to try a different approach with ROM progression mat pulls, doing some submax but still hard sets. Like ROM prog meets 5/3/1. See how it pans out in a couple months.

Got some good room for growth in that assistance work. Pullups after rows are hard, but there’s always some juice left to squeeze out so I could see some good things happening there.

My body is so damn sore today, not sure what it was from the first two workouts this week but every muscle in my back has crazy doms, so having a back day was great this morning. When it came time to do conditioning I just didn’t have the mental clarity for it so decided to get after something I’ve been meaning to do which are the static axle holds. My pinching grip sucks so it’d be good to work on that.

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