Velvet's Lifting and Other Fun Stuff Log

4/5/21

Squat deload workout

SUPER SETS (squat - core)

Box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x1
225x1
255x1

Ring superman plank: (1)
5x20s

GIANT SETS (squat - shrug - core)

SSB box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
135x3x10

SSB Hise shrugs:
135x3x10

Laying leg raise:
3x10

SUPER SETS (rdl - hang)

RDL:
155x2x15

Hang board shrugs:
2x10

Bulgarian split squat:
1x10s eccentric - 10s isometric - 10s concentric

Single leg glute bridge:
5-4-3-2-1 w/pauses at top

Nothing special here, just an easy deload workout. Approached it “7th week”-esque then added some extra stuff. The SSB squats I did pretty slow and methodically so they wound up being more of a challenge than they would have. Goal for them was to be restorative and they did the trick, lots of little aches and stuff in the joints from yesterday are smoothed out now.

Doubled down on the healing with a little bit of odd bodyweight work at the end. One rep per leg was plenty for that BSS thing. Took no time at all and my knee felt amazing afterwards, good to know. For the bridge I’d hold the last rep of the “set” for the corresponding amount of seconds and continue working my way down. Feeling pretty lined up after all that.

1 Like

4/7/21

Press deload workout

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins: (widest to narrowest grip)
5x10

Axle press:
50x10
85x5x10

Laying windshield wipers:
5x8

Dips:
x10
30-7-17 (30-10-30 attempt)
x13

Lateral raises:
10x10
20x10 (begin dropset)
15x9
10x11
5x14
2.5x16
Hands x24

Band pull aparts:
x100 rest/pause

Axle curls: (plate change rests)
30x10
40x5
30x10
50x5
30x10
60x9
50x7
40x7
30x17

For a deload workout this was pretty sweet. Seemed to be floating on the chins today, could have definitely hit some higher reps but I was able to the 5x10 while also getting a good MMC and not just aiming for the reps.

For the rest I just played around with some stuff. It’s easy to goof on the HIT subforum but I wanted to see first hand what the draw was. TBH I was surprised at how much I didn’t hate the approach. My chest was completely smoked by the end and I legit couldn’t complete the prescribed time and reps. Don’t see myself using it often but as a change of pace on deload weeks I think there’s use.

I did one warm up set of lateral raises then began the epic drop set. As the weights got lighter I was reducing the ROM to keep the tension on the delts. By the end I was basically flapping my arms like the slowest bird in existence haha. Fantastic pump.

Curls were a little throwback to an older approach I’ve liked to use. It’s basically one giant set as you only rest long enough to swap out a bunch of 5s on the bar (could use 10s if you’re strong). Wound up with 80 total reps in the “set”, some heavyish some light. Build a bunch of pre-fatigue with the light sets between the build up sets then finish with a dropset as hard as you can.

2 Likes

4/8/21

Pull workout

BB row:
45x10
95x8
135x8
155x8
185x8
205x7

SUPER SETS (band - chin)

Band straight arm pulldown:
3x12

Overhand pullups:
3x8

Inverted row:
4x10

Band face pulls:
x100 rest/pause

Decent enough workout. Didn’t see a need for a deload on this day so kept it the same. 205 for 7 strict rows is for sure a PR. I don’t really bother to keep track of that kind of thing for rows but I’m definitely stronger on them than I’ve ever been.

Mood is in the gutter today and so it was pretty cathartic to abuse my equipment a little bit. I was not gentle setting the bar into the rack or putting on/putting away plates. Would’ve been a great day to have some bumper plates.

1 Like

4/9/21

Hiking

Mt. Waumbek
6/67
7.2 miles (33.4 total hiked)
2,729’ elevation gain (10,702’ total gained)



A real punch the clock type of hike if there ever was one. This wasn’t one I ever had an eye on, but it’s on the 4k list so I had to get it done. First mile or so was bare trail, haven’t seen that yet this year and it was nice although a classic NH hiking trail (aka rugged).

Not much in the way of views except for the one lookout, and the snowy/icy part of the trail was beat the hell up. Made for some tough footing but I just blazed through this with some speed. Probably going to be a theme for the month realistically.

Despite the trail being a bit underwhelming, it was cool to have hiked in a part of the state and a mountain range I haven’t been in yet. The ridge would probably be a really nice through hike rather than treating is as a standalone. Didn’t have that kind of time today, I got to the trailhead around 1pm and head to hustle. Work was light today so I pulled double duty.

I dressed for a 60* day and anticipated it being a bit cooler on the mountain. It wound up being 70* with no breeze whatsoever and constant sun. Felt like I took a dip in the dead sea afterwards.

That photo is of the Presidential range, which I plan on conquering as a traverse later this year. Excited for that.

5 Likes

HIT legit brings SO much good stuff to the table and then they squander it all with training frequency and workout duration. Dropsets, forced reps, stripsets, all the intensity modifiers: those are awesome. 14 minute workouts done once every 12 days? That’s so stupid. Good on you to steal what is useful.

3 Likes

4/10/21

Bench deload workout

SUPER SETS (bench - chin)

Axle bench:
50x10
80x5
120x5
140x5x10

Rack chin:
7x8

DB bench:
50x50 rest/pause

Dips:
x50 rest/pause

Inverted row shrug:
3x10

SUPER SETS (band - hang)

Band pushdown:
4x25

Hang board:
4x20s

Another solid workout for deload week. Hard work but all due to sustaining an immense chest pump more so than the weights being moved. The inverted row shrug was in place of the Kelso shrugs just because it was less set up, but I think they work a lot better with the DBs.

@T3hPwnisher Haha yeah man, always the case with too much of a good thing I suppose. I’m not sure why but your comment sent me down memory lane back to the first year I spent in the gym when I was like 18 with my best friend. We did intensity modifiers for everything. Forced reps on lateral raises? Yup. Spotting on the leg extension machine for a few extra reps? You know it. Negative only bench reps well beyond failure? What is Monday without them?! 5 day bro-split with insane volume and intensity? Duh. Injuries? Not a single one haha. Only thing I’d have changed about those days is that I wish I’d eaten as hard as I trained.

3 Likes

I keep re-discovering just how smart I was when I started and how dumb I got the more I learned. Took a LONG time to re-learn that intuitive, barbaric intelligence when it comes to training. Which segues perfectly into the Barbarian Brothers quote of “There is no overtraining: just undereating”. Fully concur with what you wrote: if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t tell myself to do anything differently with training, but I WOULD have given myself a slowcooker, a foreman grill and a cookbook, haha.

1 Like

4/12/21

Squat workout

SUPER SETS (squat - core)

Box squat: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x5
175x5
195x5
215x5

Ring fallouts: (1)
5x8

GIANT SETS (squat - shrug - core)

SSB box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
175x5x5

SSB Hise shrug:
135x5x8 w/2ct pause

Superman ring plank:
x20s

SUPER SETS (rdl - hang)

RDL:
165x5x6

Hang board shrug: (various grips)
5x7

I decided to swap my supplemental to 5x5 @ FSL for all three weeks going forward for a while. Sub max work feels pretty weird since I’ve been pushing sets to failure or misery for a while now, but I have to keep the real goal for the year in mind and set myself up for success there. I can still get plenty strong doing it this way and open up some extra recovery room for more cardio or hiking depending on the week.

4/13/21

Press workout

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins: (widest to narrowest grip)
BWx10 - wide
+35x5x5

Axle press:
50x10
80x5
95x5
105x5
115x4
105x6

Side plank:
x20s

GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)

Axle press:
85x3x10
85x8
85x6

Dips:
5x failure

Lateral raise:
15x5x10

Band pull aparts:
5x25

Poundstone curls:
x111

Man, what a bullshit workout today haha. I actually suspected my top sets to be in the gutter today so I’m really not all that upset, but it went a bit worse than I expected. For some reason after a deload week my overhead press suffers dramatically. Today though I just had no fuel in the tank, I was mentally prepared to grind out a few tough reps but my body totally shut off. I fully expect to come back and post higher reps with heavier weights next week.

Decided to streamline the supplemental for this cycle and stick with the axle straight through. Dropped a round in doing so and upped the weight on the lateral raises. Killer pump from this, but again once I got towards the last reps of the last rounds I had no grind in me today.

Felt like my hands grew a little or something because the Poundstone curls were not a problem today. Biceps were screaming but grip was a non factor. Still had a solid forearm pump afterwards but never threatened the set itself.

Bacon, eggs, and potatoes for dinner today. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites and about the only time I’ll make eggs for myself going forward for a while. Changed my breakfast to two pork sausage links, a bowl of yogurt/fruit/protein, and two slices of toast with peanut/sun butter.

3 Likes

Who gives a fuck if it was a below par workout @mr.v3lv3t my man

You turned up and got paid. We all have a bad day at work but that sweet cash is still in the bank at the end of the month.

Fucking rip it up my man and prosper

1 Like

4/15/21

Pull workout

BB row:
45x10
95x5
135x6
155x6
185x6
205x2x6

SUPER SETS (chins - pullover)

Overhand pullups:
2x10
1x8

EZ bar pullovers:
3x12

Single arm lat pulldown:
45x4x10

Kelso shrugs: (7)
10x100

This workout is starting to become fully actualized. I’ve eliminated band work and I think that’ll do wonders. I think bands are a solid tool for sure, but I needed to come up with a way to do more movements with measurable weight. I got pretty creative with my pulldown set up and it was a winner. Here’s a photo:


Used some lengths of chain to extend a piece of webbing that runs over the chinning bar on my rack. It’s not perfect as the webbing has a fair bit of friction, but for an at home setup it’ll do. I learned that I can really get my right lat going, but my left side lags quite a bit as far as MMC.

Really tried to focus on the rhomboid area during those Kelso shrugs and I got it burning up pretty good. I’m all lats and teres so it was good to feel that middle area getting some work done.

@ChongLordUno Dude you’ve quickly skyrocketed to one of my favorite posters on the site. Not only do you bring incredible hype energy to the logs but the fact you manage so many unique posts in that regard is awesome. So, hell yeah let’s get that bread my man.

2 Likes

What about putting a piece of PVC pipe over the rack, and the webbing over that?

1 Like

Certainly something to consider. I’d have to get creative with how to construct it due to the way the chinning bar is designed, but I’m sure there’s a way to do it. For now I’m not too concerned, the added friction is basically just making lighter weight heavy haha.

1 Like

Wow @mr.v3lv3t mate I’m humbled by your extremely kind words.

Supporting folk via there logs means a lot to me. It’s humbling to know that your words are giving folk a kick up the arse and helping them inch themselves towards their goals and and being a little bit better than they were the day before.

Ok that’s the cheese done and dusted.

Let’s tear this motherfucker up

2 Likes

4/17/21

Bench workout

SUPER SETS (bench - row)

Axle bench:
50x10
80x5
120x5
170x3x8
170x6+2

Band rows:
6x8

Incline DB bench: (7)
40x50 rest/pause

DB Kelso shrug: (7)
40x9
40x2x8

Dips:
x50 rest/pause

Band pushdowns:
x100 rest/pause

Various hang board holds until forearms were crying

Solid for an AM workout. Had to go with rest/pause on the last bench set, I knew I had 7 but the 8th would not have gone up so I took 20s and knocked out the two. I think I’m figuring something out with flat bench this time around because the pecs were taking the majority of the beating there which is sweet.

Decided to just keep it going with the rest/pause stuff until the workout was over. I think I’m going to need to pull the trigger on an adjustable bench because rigging mine up with patio pavers or on a bar in the rack just kinda sucks.

3 Likes

4/18/21

Squat workout

SUPER SETS (squat - core)

Box squat:
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5

Ring fallouts: (1)
1x9
4x8

GIANT SETS (squat - shrug - core)

SSB box squat:
185x5x5

DB shrug:
50x5x12

Bench reverse hyper:
5x8

SUPER SETS (rdl - hang)

RDL:
165x4x8

Hang board shrug:
4x7

This was a pretty funny workout. I was not psyched coming into it, but since I’m going to try and get a couple mid-week hikes in it was today or play a big game of catch up.

Bodyweight squats were moving slow. The bar to warmup felt like it was already loaded. 95 felt like a top set. Then I got to the work sets and something changed. These weights are light anyway and they started to feel like it. I piston repped the top set which is not my usual technique but I had all the juice for it today.

It was more of the same when I went to the supplemental. I piston repped most of the sets which had me cheesin’. The shrugs felt like the DBs were floating, and the reverse hyper I wasn’t sure I was even doing anything.

Those RDLs are light by design, but I swear I could’ve been power snatching them the way I was flicking the weight around. Hips and back are finally feeling normal again, I actually think the hiking has been restorative for them.

Definitely one of those top 10% workouts, but I’ll take that on a Sunday any time.

Solid workout @mr.v3lv3t my man

Worthy of a 21 rep salute

Fill that flagon with honey soaked reps

1 Like

4/19/21

Hiking

Old Speck Mountain
7/67
7.2 miles (40.6 total hiked)
2,870’ elevation gain (13,672’ total gained)



Man I got worked today haha. Spring hiking is the rough stuff. Good amount of snow left on the trail but there’s not much of a pack left. Sliding all over the place even with spikes on. Wound up taking a digger on some wet rocks towards the end of the day, and that was before it started raining. This is one of my favorite hikes, would love to take another stab at it in more winter like conditions.

Passed a couple parties on my way up that I didn’t see again until I was about halfway down. They both decided to turn back, which was the right move for them as they were under-equipped for the snow. The guy in the couple that remained was definitely a meathead and extended a compliment my way by calling me a friggin’ animal for making it to the top. Thought that was pretty funny but I’ll take a props from a yoked dude any time.

Might go out for a couple more tomorrow, or might take it easy and just lift. I’ll see how the body is feeling in the AM. Looking forward to mid-may when it’s just mud I have to contend with. I’ll be able to link consecutive days together easier then.

5 Likes

Beautiful pics my man

Keep em coming

Would love to get some hills in myself however it’s hard as hell with a 2 year old and a 10 month old :man_facepalming:

When I do, you will know all about it @mr.v3lv3t matey

1 Like

4/20/21

Press workout

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins:
BWx10 - middle wide
+35x6
+35x4x5

Axle press:
50x10
80x5
100x3
110x3
120x5
110x7

Side plank:
x20s/side

GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)

Axle press:
85x4x10
85x7

Dips:
5x failure

Lateral raise:
15x11
15x4x10

Band pull apart:
5x25

Poundstone curls:
x112

Just as I expected, came back and beat last weeks numbers at higher weights. I missed the goal for the top set, but I got the requisite amount of struggle in so that was good. Probably need to increase calories, but also probably coming to the end of the road with the TM increases too.

Fought hard on the supplemental too, which was another improvement from last week. The body did not want to complete 4 sets of 10, but the mind did. By the 5th set though the body took control again.

Yet again grip wasn’t much of a factor during the curls. Afterwards is another story though.

Wound up getting called into work today so the decision between hiking and lifting was made for me.

@ChongLordUno I wish the photos did the views justice man, stuff was incredible yesterday. There were 4 or 5 rain clouds visible in the distance converging on the peak I was on that the photos just don’t pick up. That also informed my decision to boogey a little sooner and enjoy my beer in the parking lot haha. You could always get one of those baby carrier packs and load up the kids for a truly killer and gratifying workout.

3 Likes