Witty log title

Day 8/12

OHP
65 10x3

FS
107.5 10x3

No part of me wanted to do anything this morning. OHP was very tough. The last rep of every set (bar the 7th set, funnily) was an absolute, almost-pass-out-from-pressing-so-hard grinder. Front squats were easy. Funny how the sets of 4 and of 3 with the front squats are far easier than, say, the sets of 6, despite the sets of 6 being considerably lighter. My core has usually fatigued by the time I get towards the tail end of the higher rep sets. Didn't get time to bench. Haven't benched in about 3 weeks... I've a feeling my strength will be all but gone by the time I get to do it again.

Alf Veedersane

Don't underestimate the contribution of the rows and OHPs to your bench. I'll bet you won't have lost all that much from your bench.

Alf Veedersane

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Don't underestimate the contribution of the rows and OHPs to your bench. I'll bet you won't have lost all that much from your bench.

It's going to be about three weeks before I have a chance to find out, so we shall see...

This morning:

5 rounds of:
8 pull-ups
16 push-ups
60s plank

Band pull-aparts x hundreds

Gym isn't open tomorrow, it won't be open next Sunday, and I'm going away next Monday, so I'm going to have to fit this week's training into a shorter space of time: Day 1 (with back squats) on Tuesday, Day 2 (with weighted pull ups) on Wednesday, Day 3 (with pendlays) on Friday, and Day 4 (with RDLs) on Saturday. This shouldn't affect the front squats at all, I hope, but it'll make a bollocks of the OHP I suspect. Can't see myself doing 67.5 for 10x3.

Quick max pull-ups test.

Got 13 (BW is around 91-92kg). I'm not exactly fresh so I'm happy with that.

All wide-grip, from a full dead hang (paused at the bottom for about 1 second) and chin over the bar. I'd like 20 by year's end. And a muscle-up... I'd love to be able to do a muscle up.

Day 9/12

OHP
57.5 6x6

FS
95 6x6

Given that I've to front squat again tomorrow, a wise man probably wouldn't have bothered back squatting tonight...

BS
100 x3
105 x3
110 x3
115 x3
120 x3
125 x3
130 x3
135 x3
137.5 x3 ... PB
140 x3 ... PB. That was very easy, could have managed at least one more rep.

Probably should have stopped here, but ah well... nothing to be gained by playing it safe.

142.5 x1
145 x1 ... previous PB
147.5 x1 ... 2.5kg PB
150 x1 ... 5kg PB. Was a grind but I kept completely upright and didn't fall forward like I used to. Good sign.

I've realised I can't brace properly (as in breath with my diaphragm into my belly) when I back squat, but I can do it easily when I front squat. I wonder what that says about my pelvic alignment... I make sure that I've no anterior tilt when I squat (or at least try to), because I'm prone to that naturally.

Day 10/12

OHP
60 7x5

FS
100 7x5

Pull Ups
+20kg vest 5x4

OHP was okay. Front squats were very easy.

Day 11/12

... and it all comes falling down.

OHP
65 x4, x3
62.5 7x4

FS
105 8x4

Pendlays
70 x5
75 x5
80 x5
85 x5
90 x5
95 x5
100 x5

OHP is all maxed out. No point in even attempting tomorrow's programmed numbers. I don't think I'll OHP at all tomorrow... I'll finish off the front squats, bench a bit and try to fit in some RDLs. Looking forward to finishing up tomorrow because I now hate what were my two favourite exercises—overhead pressing and front squats.

Day 12/12

FS
112.5 10x3

Not difficult. Could have managed 115 10x3, I think. Got bad sunburn on my shoulders on Thursday, front squatting last night and this morning has been torture, shoulders are ripped to shreds now.

Bench
80 x3
85 x3
90 x3
92.5 x3
95 x3

... felt very heavy.

RDL
80 3x12

And so ends the experiment. Smolov Jr. works very well for the front squat—at least it did for me. Core strength has always been my limiting factor, so front squatting so often has really strengthened it and I'd be optimistic of getting at least a 125kg if not a 130kg front squat if I were to test. I can't say I'd recommend the programme for the OHP... or, if you're going to use it, use a figure below your 1RM for the calculations, because you can't really "grow" into the programme with the OHP like you can with squats or the bench, I found. Happy to be done with it.

Did 200 pull-ups over the course of today.

Taking about 9 days off. Heading over to the 24hrs of Le Mans tomorrow so for the next 7/8 days I'll eating shíte food and getting next to no sleep in a tent. Should be fun!

Back after 12 days off. Le Mans was great craic, couldn't recommend it more. But 10 days of shíte food and 9 nights of sleeping on floors/car seats/in a tent takes its toll. Still a bit banjaxed.

BS
100 x3
105 x3
110 x3
115 x3
120 x3
125 x3
130 x2 ... hmmm
120 x5
110 x5

Conventional DL
60 x5
80 x5
100 x3
110 x3
120 x3
130 x3
140 x3
145 x3

A kitten would have a stronger DL than me. First time deadlifting in a few months, granted, but it's still awful.

OHP
60 3x5

Pendlays
80 3x6

Didn't lose as much mobility/flexibility as I was expecting, but I felt fairly weak. I'll be pricking around until next Thursday when I head off to a music festival for the weekend, so it'll be the following Tuesday or Wednesday before I can start a proper programme.

Front Squat
80 x3
90 x3
95 x3
100 x3
105 x3
110 x3
100 x3

... tough as hell.

Bench
All paused
80 x3
85 x3
90 x3
95 3x3
80 x6

Pull Ups
BW x3
+20kg vest 5x3

Squat
Up to 130 3x3

Conv. DL
Up to 150 3x3

That's easily a PR. I'm fairly sure I haven't deadlifted conventionally in about a year (so that's basically ever, because I deadlifted for the first time about a year ago and only did it two or three times), and the most I ever did was about 120 for a single. I've lifted sumo three times in the past year, I think, and the most from that was 150 x1. There's a good bit more to come too because that wasn't too difficult.

Pull Ups
+20kg vest 6x3

Did precisely nothing worthwhile tonight. Food has been ****e (a diet of bread, ice pops and biscuits the past few days) and yesterday's deads took a good bit out of me.

Press
Up to 70 x1

Push Press
Up to 75 x1 ... bleh. I forget how to pushpress, not that I ever really figured it out in the first place

Snatch Grip BTN Press
Up to 50 x3

Snatch Grip BTN Push Press
Up to 70 x1

Pendlays
80 6x6

BS
Slowly up to 130 x3

FS
Slowly up to 105 x3 and 110 x1 ... bleh

GMs
Slowly up to 80 x5

Heading away tomorrow until Monday. Consistency lately has been fairly awful. From Tuesday onwards I should hopefully have a 10 or 11 week spell without much interruption, so I can do a proper programme instead of this pricking around. I'm thinking of either doing Candito's 5-week programme twice back to back, or doing Smolov Jr. for backsquat 3 times back to back. Have to start making progress towards 2x BW. Think I might buy a belt too. I've never used one but I imagine it should make that goal easier to achieve.

Back Squat
Lots of warm ups up to 90 x5
100 x3
105 x3
110 x3
115 x3
120 x3
125 x3
130 x2

+belt
100 x2
110 x2
120 x2
130 x2
135 x2
140 x1

DL
Up to 145 x5 and 155 x1

First time to use a belt so it took a bit of getting used to. I think it's a bit big so I wasn't getting as much out of it as I could be.

Plan from Monday is to run Smolov Jr. for backsquat and bench concurrently again, using maxes of 152.5 and 112.5, respectively. The cycles will end on 140 10x3 and 100 10x3, which would both be nice. Aim is to do the squats beltless and pause the bench.

Bench
all paused
warm ups
80 x3
85 x3
90 x3
95 x2
100 x1
90 3x3

OHP
warm ups
60 3x3

Pull Ups
BW x3
+25kg 3x3
+30kg x1
+20kg x4
BW x8

Everything felt heavy. Smolov Jr. next week should be ... fun.

Squat
120 x10 ... token PR
100 x10 ... wanted 20 or 25 but I was too goosed after the last set

Good Morning
60 3x8 ... with conv. deadlift stance
60 3x8 ... with squat stance

Pendlay Rows
80 6x6

Will post up details later of the plan for the next few weeks.

Plan from today onwards (for my own reference):

Monday
Bench
Squat
Front Squat
Good Mornings
Pull Ups

Wednesday
Bench
Squat
RDLs
Pendlays

Friday
Bench
Squat
Pull Ups

Saturday
Bench
Squat

I'll be following Smolov Jr. for back squat (high bar, beltless) and bench (paused):

Squat (calculated with 152.5 as my max):


Bench (calculated with 112.5):


I'll be doing the pull-ups weighted and doing 5 sets of 3, starting with 20kg this evening and adding 2.5kg per session and hopefully ending up with at least +30kg 5x3 (also plan on doing pull-aparts between pull up sets). Front squat I'll be working up to one or a few sets of 3, and with GMs, RDLs and Pendlays I'll do whatever I feel like on the day. I'll throw in things like YTWLs and scap pull ups if I find the time.

Plan is to eat as much as I can... last time I did Smolov Jr. for back squat and bench I was eating 4500+ clean kcals a day and still losing weight, so if I could do that again I'll be happy.

Day 1/12

Bench
Warm ups
77.5 6x6 ... paused

Back Squat
Warm ups
105 6x6

Front Squat
60 x5
80 x3
90 x3
100 x3
105 x1

Good Morning
20 x5
40 x5
60 3x5

Pull Ups
BW x3
+20kg 5x3
BW x10,6,6

Today was one of the bad ones—my 1 in 5, hopefully. Everything felt heavy. Front squats felt impossible... seems like a dream that a few weeks ago I could front squat 112.5 for 10x3 with little bother, and now a single at 105 is an absolute max. Squats felt fairly bad, gonna spend an hour or two tomorrow opening up my hips. Wednesday should be better. I hope.

Day 2/12 (or day 2/2)

Bench
85 5x5 ... paused

Was meant to be 7x5 but that wasn't happening.

Back Squat
115 7x5

RDL
60 x8
80 x8
100 x8
110 x8
120 x5 ... grip failed

All double overhand.

That's the kick up the arse I needed. I need to stop trying to programme for myself when I honestly couldn't have less of a clue what I'm doing. I'll faff about tomorrow and on Friday, take the weekend off and then start Candito's 6 week programme on Monday.

Pull Ups
BW x3
+20kg x3
+25kg x1
+30kg x1
+32.5kg x1
+35kg x1 ... 2.5kg PB

+25kg x3
+22.5kg x3
+20kg 3x4

Bodyweight is now up around 93/94kg again, so most of them are PBs at this BW—I set my previous 32.5kg PB at a BW of about 89kg.

OHP
Bar x12
30 x7
40 x5
50 x3
55 x3
60 x3
62.5 x3
65 x3

60 x5
55 x7
50 x11
45 x12
40 x13

Pendlays
60 x5
70 x5
75 x5
80 x5
85 x5
90 x5
85 x5
80 x5
75 x5
70 x5

Will squat and/or bench tomorrow and/or Saturday morning. Looking forward to starting the new programme on Monday.

Squats
125kg x10 ... PR
100kg x21 ... PR, though I know I had 25+ in me... just didn't have the will to continue

Changed my squat stance slightly. I've given up on Starrett's "feet directly forward" mantra, which I've been following for the past 6 months or so, and tilted them outwards slightly—less than 5 degrees. Makes such a difference. Got into the groove immediately, instead of it taking 5+ warm up sets before feeling right.

Walking Lunges
60kg barbell x 15 minutes

Prowler Sprints
+110kg
8-6-4-2 lengths

Lunges and sprints were done outside in the rain. Felt great. I'll bench in the morning if I can summon the will to get out of bed.

1.1

Back Squat
125 4x6

Conv. DL
127.5 2x6 ... double overhand

Front Squat
90 3x5

Jump Squat
70 3x5

First day of a new programme—used 155, 110 and 160 as my maxes for squat, bench and DL calculations, respectively. Back squats were grand, front squats were very easy and felt great. Deadlift felt brilliant too. First time doing jump squats so it took a bit of practice to figure the movement out. Quads were burning from them though, which can only be good. Upper day tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday with this programme, and another lower day on Friday. It's funny how the thought of squatting only twice a week scares me ... so used to squatting 3-4x per week.

1.2

Bench
All paused
57.5 x10
75 x10
82.5 x7 ... was meant to be x8 ... shíte
85 x6

Pendlays
70 x10
75 x10
80 x8
85 x6

OHP
45 x12
47.5 x12
50 x10
52.5 x8

Pull Ups
+20kg vest 3x5
BW 2x10

YTWLs
2.5kg 3x10

Pull Aparts
3 rounds of
20 overhand
20 underhand

Well shíte for my bench. Can't believe how quickly the little bit of strength I had on it disappeared. Thursday's workout is practically identical to this—same bench numbers, slightly higher numbers everywhere else—so hopefully I nail it then, otherwise I'll recalculate the next 4 weeks using a max of 105 instead of 110.

1.3

Bench
All paused
57.5 x10
75 x10
82.5 x8
85 x5+1

Pendlays
72.5 x10
77.5 x10
82.5 x8
87.5 x6

OHP
47.5 x12
50 x12
52.5 x9+1
55 x6+2

Pull Ups
+22.5kg 4x4

Decided I'm going to finish out this week as planned, then repeat week 1 next week with some adjusted numbers. Kind of made a balls of the programme this week by starting some exercises too heavy—very hard to estimate what weight to use for sets of 12 in the OHP, for instance, when I'm so used to doing 3-5 reps. I'll call this week an extra volume week. No harm done.

1.4

Back Squat
110 4x8

Conv. DL
110 2x8

Front Squat
95 3x5

Decided to give up the jump squats as they're hard on my knee.

1.5

Bench
All paused
87.5 x7 ... max reps

Pendlays
75 x10
80 x10
85 x8
90 x6

OHP
47.5 x12
50 x11+1
52.5 x7+3
55 x5+3

Pull Ups
+25kg 5x3

Rear Delt Flyes
3 rounds of:
5kg DBs x15
7.5kg DBs x10

Band Pull-Aparts
3 rounds of:
Overhand x20
Underhand x20

Going to up my calories considerably. Been hitting 4000 this week, going to go up to 4500-5000 from now onwards. Looking forward to repeating this week from Monday.

1.1

Back Squat
125 4x6

Conv. DL
132.5 2x6

Front Squat
90 3x5

Box Jump
30" (77cm) 3x10

Did DeFranco's Limber 11 was a warm up. Plan is to do it on lower days and maybe on rest days too. First time to do box jumps and I was jumping 10-12" higher than the box without too much effort so I've a lot of potential for increasing that number. Recorded everything for the first time so I might stick up some videos for some feedback ... maybe.

Spent the last two hours watching all of the sets I recorded ... must upload some to youtube when I get time. Can't believe I haven't recorded before! So much valuable information to be seen. I'm very happy with my squat depth and positioning at the bottom. Here are a couple of stills:

Back squat:


Front squat:


Depth seems to be fairly good for barefoot squatting. I've noticed my elbows come underneath the bar when I back squat and I think I lose some upperback tightness when that happens. Need to find some good cues to keep them back a bit to help with tightness. I'd like to be able to backsquat with a more vertical back angle too, however I'd go about doing that...

Alf Veedersane

Coach's Eye app is great for viewing videos in slow mo and manually moving the clip forward and back as you want.