is that as close as you ever go for close grip bench? I never know how close my close grip should be. I’ve seen some people do super crazy close and other people just a tad closer than their normal
My close grip is like my pointer finger just barely touching the first part of the non smooth LOL! If that makes any sense…
6/3/16 - Heavy sets of 5. Weighing 230.
Front Squat
95x8
135x3,3
225x3
275x1
335x1
375x5 for sure had 3 more in me. Good to know my 365 AMRAP was a fluke and I probably had 9 if I wasn’t so stupid with form.
had to change my shirt here. I had my garage door open for this session so the sweating was awful.
375x5
375x5 I’m constantly changing belt variables. I kept it loose for the main work. A tight belt on front squats fucks me up it seems. Impedes my breathing and shoots me forward from the amount of bounce it gives.
Decent work for me. My 5x5 with 365 a month or so ago was honestly comparably easier. Might be the lack of sleep this passed week. Doge has been sick so I’ve had to get up periodically during the night to take him outside and stuff.
I can hit 405 for 5 AMRAP but i’d like to see that number hit 6 in the near future.
Beltless 3 sec Pause FS
275x5
275x5
275x5
275x5 These reps were ATG but as a result i lost my rack position on 4th rep and had to do frankenstein shit.
Log Cleans
160x12
210x6
210x6
210x5
Pull Ups
x10
x8
x8
x8
Step Ups to 13" (dumbbells)
40s x 15,x15,x15,x15,x15
Front Plank
x60s
x45s
x45s
Oblique Crunch
x15
x15
x15
x15
Back is really bothering me now. I felt something strange when I put the bar back in the rack during one of the front squat sets.
I have been working really hard and not really cycling stuff as precisely and sagaciously as I should. Ah well, I will play it by ear and see how I feel.
Yeah that is the closest I go honestly. I used to go much closer when I was younger but I’ve found it bothers my shoulders more and my arch becomes fucked. I also end up looking like a dinosaur.
Anyway, my regular grip is already closer than normal, so I get a big change of feel just bringing it in 4 inches or so. Just preference I’d say.
So man I’ve been curious for a bit, are you following a program or philosophy of sorts or are you just training instinctively? Sorry if I’ve missed you addressing this somewhere already
Good question I often ask myself lol. It’s a mix between instinct and structure. I try to cycle parameters/variables in a way that’s akin to cube method. For example, training something with heavy weight, high intensity and low volume one day, and doing something the opposite the next. The following weeks would pretty much be made up of rotating those variables throughout each exercise/day. I don’t do it as much now because I’m terribly lazy in structuring super meticulously. I might have to write shit out and get the train moving again. Feeling a bit down for the count at the moment, stuff’s been catching up with me so it might be a good idea for change.
6/5/16 - Back is still bugging me but it’s getting better. Put a belt and straps on for todays DB rows and went ham.
Kroc Row
100x40
100x20
100x20
100x20
Pull Ups
x12
x10
x10
x8
x8
Horizontal Banded Row
x20
x20
x15
x15
x15
Pretty meh day. Trying to avoid loading the spine too much. I’ll be in MD for a bit visiting a friend and helping him prepare for an event he’s hosting, so we’ll see what kinda stuff I do this week.
6/6/16 - Had no spotter and my rack heights are rather compromising so I worked up to a super easy single with 315 for fun and then just worked close grip.
Close Grip Bench (ring finger on ring)
275x8
275x8
275x8 reached failure here.
Z Press w/ band suspended weights
95+50lbs x 5
95+50lbs x 5
135+50lbs x6 failed the seventh atttempt
115+50lbs x 5
95+50lbs x 7
Seated DB Military/Hammer Swings to Tire
40x15/x25
40x15/x25
40x15/x25
40x15/x30
Nice, thanks for the explanation. You’re kicking ass and I’ve been following along for a while, but still couldn’t quite figure out the big picture haha. Maybe yoga for a change?
I’ve been on vacation and hanging with a good friend in MD so I’ve been pretty much just chilling and not worrying about diet/training for once. My friend did offer to give me his morning pill “stack” and I obliged without asking what it was. I became incredibly indisposed throughout the car ride that lasted about 30 minutes with me wondering if I was going to puke or not. Needless to say, we pulled over and I heaved and wretched to no avail. I ended up getting back into his car on a busy high way and began to feel the deluge of vomit incoming. I then preceded to throw my head out of the moving vehicle in which I sprayed whatever my body didn’t want in it, out.
Then we deadlifted and overhead pressed. The bar was stiff and the belt was impotent. I was very pleased to be able to hit mediocre numbers in spite of such adversity. Can’t wait to be back training again!
6/13/16 - First day back training and I feel pretty unhinged. Back is bothering me and I just am not running well off such low sleep and water from the whole week. Came back tentatively.
Seated DB Military
40x10
40x10
100x15 PR
100x12
Strict Press w/ Axle
175x3
225x6
225x5
225x4
pinched a nerve in my neck so stopped here
F**king necks. That happens to me all the time. I found being diligent on the neck harness helps a little, but it’s still a bitch. Heal up dude. The worse part is you can’t even find a good sleeping position.
Thanks for the well wishes. Shit sucks, but I may start doing neck work. Any advice for someone with a forward neck lean?
I just do extensions and left to right swings. I used to do neck crunches with a plate on my forehead too, but I got too lazy to do it.
I keep the reps high (50+) to play it safe.
@T3hPwnisher Cool! I’ll look into it a bit.
6/15/16- First day back squatting in almost 3 weeks. Woke up with the horrific news of weighing only 226. I did not eat enough on my trip so this was expected…but damn. I looked at myself in the mirror and I just looked tiny. Gotta get back to around 232-235.
Beltless Pause Fronts (2 sec pause)
135x5,3
185x3
225x2
275x1
350x5 Paused the last rep extra lonog. Very happy with this. Anyone else feel less anxiety and more comfortable pausing a front squat than doing it regularly? I’m fucking weird.
Took out the tire for the first time in a LOOOONG time. I wish I had better storage options, but atm it’s collecting mosquitos. Since it’s summer, I’ll take it out much more.
Tire Flips on grass
700x5 test flips to get water out of it. I believe I weighed this around 680-685lbs at my old yard where I worked on an industrial scale. Calling it 700 cause of water in it and to make me feel better about myself.
700x5 more water removing.
700x8-10 didnt push over completely over axis, so the position I kept it in was particularly hard for me to get a good grip at the bottom so in turn I had to really hug the shit out of it with my chest off the ground.
700x7 last rep was a finger tip grasper. forearms are SORE.
700x7
700x15ish UP a hill. These, I might have to do more often. Pretty awful.
6/17/16 - 227 bodyweight this morning, early AM session.
Conventional Deads
135x5 smooth
225x3
315x3
405x1
500x8 Huge PR with 1-2 more in the tank. All reps dead stop and hook grip.
appears to me that i learned more about conventional deadlifting in one session than I did for the 6-7 years I’ve been lifting. I attribute this to sumo pulling teaching me how to hoist the weight with building tension and not yanking on the bar like a foaming-from-the-mouth savage.
Hip Thrust/Pull Ups/DB Side Bend Circuit: 4 rounds, 1 min rest between each round
125x20/x17/40x20
175x20/x14/40x20
225x20/x11/40x20
305x12/x10/100x12
Looking forward to training conventional again, although I will still be pulling sumo most of the time since it seems to be helping and conventional does kind of bug my back.
6/19/16 - Today was a great day of close grip. Did them in conjuction with pull ups to work on “conditioning” (i guess, but mostly cause it seemed fun.)
Pull Ups SS w/ Close Grip Bench
x10/225x3
x10275x8
x10/275x8
x10/275x10 PR for sets+reps
Standing DB Press
40x50
40x31
40x25
Front Raise/Side Lateral SS (bands)
x20/x20
x20/x20
x20/x20
Band Pull Apart
x20
x20
x20
Bad news in spite of the recent good, is that my left foot feels…broken. Possibly a stress fracture, but it is feeling incredibly painful if I try to walk or stand on it with an arch (although an exaggerated one.) I hope I can squat, but if not I will rest it up.
6/21/16
Banded Front Squats
135x5,5,3
225x3
225+150lbs bands x3
275+150lbs bands x3
315+150lbs bands x3
365+150lbs bands x3 Called it on 3. might have had another, probably not. VERY heavy at top here. Felt my deep abdominal muscles expanding quite hard.
Left foot felt fine on squats, but I’m gonna have to skip tire flips this week still, it needs more rest.
Beltless Double Pause FS (pause in hole and pause halfway up)
135x3
185x3
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5 miserable
Log Cleans (all reps brought only back down to lap and not the floor)
110x3,3,3
160x3,3
210x3
280x3 super easy
280x6 this was pretty tough but the cleans were very fast and done with consistency in speed+ considering this is post front squats i’m happy with it. Thoracic was DONE.
A workout like this will really build a STRONG mid-back. I’ll try to use this template more often.
Wow that sounds like a really hard workout. Great work! Excited to see you workoing on the clean portion of the log.
Awesome workout man! I am definitely stealing a few of your ideas!
@Koestrizer Thanks man, I’m happy you care to see such boring things from my perspective. Shooting for a 320 clean and press in training just to have. The most I’ve pressed in contest is 275 but that’s such a small number at this point I might as well try to one motion that.
@Alpha Oh god, take everything I own! You’ve been killing it so much lately I have no idea how you could genuinely find worth in anything I post but hey if it works that’s great!