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Sets of faahve
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August 5
First time in over 2 weeks. No real plan today either; just do something.
LB squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
* belt *
90kg x 3
100kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 1
Wide stance and in flats. Felt good. Upper back felt a little inconsistent.
Hurt my inner quad/hamstring/groin (not sure), so stopped. Probably due to not warming up properly. Definitely wasn't overtraining anyway.
Floor press:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
Gym was busy and no benches available. I hate floor press.
Tricep press down:
35kg x 15
47kg x 12
47kg x 12
47kg x 12
Facepulls:
35 kg X 12
41kg x 12
41kg x 12
41kg x 12
Bunch of accessories. Grand.
Took it easy today because I dunno where my limits are. Might have time for gym on Thursday so hopefully I will do something a bit harder0 -
August 17
Pause squat:
3x3 @ 100kg
Bench:
1x5 @ 70kg (wide grip)
3x5 @ 70kg (normal grip)
Deadlift:
3x3 @ 130kg
Plan was the same as it is these days: do some SBD for some arbitrary reps and some accessories afterwards. But I was so weak and deconditioned today that the above took me over 1.5 hours so ran out of time. Boo.
Squat felt alright. WG bench gave me achey wrists so I went back to normal grip but in retrospect, I was probably touching my chest too low. Deadlift warmup with belt @120kg was crap so went beltless for 130kg and positioning was far better.
Another day that was better than nothing.0 -
August 24
LB squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 3
70kg x 3
* belt *
100kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Felt good. Plenty left in the tank.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 8
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Considering how weak my bench felt last week, this was satisfying.
Deadlift:
70kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
140kg x 3
140kg x 3
140kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Felt light in my hands, but form didn't look great. I was complacent during my warmups and only copped on for first top set. Had been making sure hip angle was 100% correct but neglected shoulder bracing. Silly.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 10
30kg x 10
30kg x 10
Calibrated plated. Haven't pressed overhead in literally months and 30kg felt waayy weaker than it should have. In retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised.
Goblet squat:
15kg x 10
20kg x 10
20kg x 10
20kg x 10
Heels raised. Bitta quad pump.
Lat pulldown:
41kg x 12
47kg x 12
47kg x 12
47kg x 12
Grand.
Meant to do something triceppey like tricep pushdowns but completely forgot. Oops.
Again, happy to get something done. Something > nothing. But by jaysus was it a sweaty day.0 -
August 31
Squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
* belt *
100kg x 3
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 1
110kg x 2
Calibrated plates. Form felt like crap. Thought it was upper back but looking at video afterwards, my knees weren't going out enough.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Form was off too. Strength felt ok.
Snatch grip RDL:
20kg x 5
60kg x 8
100kg x 8
100kg x 8
100kg x 8
Grand.
Tricep pushdown:
41kg x 10
47kg x 15
47kg x 15
47kg x 15
Grand.
DB lunge/NG lat pulldown:
10kgs x 12/47kg x 12
10kgs x 12/47kg x 12
10kgs x 12/47kg x 12
Jaysus, I'm massively unfit.
Facepulls:
35kg x 12
35kg x 12
35kg x 12
Felt wayyy heavier than they should have.
Another 'better than nothing' day.0 -
September 7
Squat:
120kg x 1
120kg x 1
120kg x 1
Lots of arsing around during warmups and can't remember exactly what I did, but spent a long time making sure there wasn't a repeat of last week's crap form. Definitely felt better, but my hips were tight AF. I need to do some actual mobility work at home as my currently sedentary life is really counting against me.
Snatch grip RDL:
60kg x 5
100kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
Grand. Felt stronger as I went on. Weird.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 8
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
Tried a different grip/setup here. After speaking with a guy who can bench 167.5kg, I tried a new thing. I try bending the bar the opposite way (downwards instead of upwards), touch the bar higher on my chest and when pushing off, let the bar travel up towards my face instead of up higher. Really felt it in my chest. Not sure if I'll keep it up.
Lat pulldown:
47kg x 12
53kg x 12
59kg x 12
Grand.
Facepull into tricep pushdown:
35kg x 12/35kg x 12
35kg x 12/35kg x 12
35kg x 12/35kg x 12
Grand. Was in a rush as gym was closing.
Hoping to up my frequency to 2/3x a week. Might make something resembling progress some time again.0 -
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September 16
Was busy Saturday and missed my weekly session. But the stars aligned and I managed to make it in this morning. But was restricted to an hour in total.
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
90kg x 8
90kg x 8
90kg x 8
Decided that my usual thing of doing something @ 3x3 followed by other leg stuff is feck all use. With the sparsity of my training sessions, the actual number of reps performed would be far more beneficial. After all, the point of training is to practise a movement pattern. Therefore, to hell with any kind of challenging weight.
WG bench:
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 4
65kg x 8
65kg x 8
65kg x 8
Tried this weird bracing and wide grip thing again. Not happy with it. I'm probably doing it wrong, but it feels like it goes against everything I'm supposed to do to protect my rotator cuff. I'll go back to my regular technique next time.
Negative pullup/lateral raise:
x 3/5kgs x 8
x 3/5kgs x 8
x 3/5kgs x 8
Decided that with my current level of strength weakness, trying to rep pullups is a bad idea right now and that negatives are better bang for my buck. Another 1-2 sessions of this kind of thing and I'd be ok doing regular pullups again.
Signed up for the upcoming Joe Sullivan seminar this morning too. Was apprehensive due to how little I'm training at the moment but should be interesting to see how much I can learn from a 400+kg squatter. Good motivation to stop being such a weakling by a few weeks time.0 -
September 18
Awake since 3:30am due to the baby being a baby. Still not going to let it prevent me from getting in a second session in a few days.
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
90kg x 1
92.5kg x 8
92.5kg x 8
92.5kg x 8
Calibrated plates. Form felt good. Just a tiny bit extra weight on the last day. Didn't feel like I was going to break apart in the hole, so that was nice.
WG bench:
20kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 3
67.5kg x 8
67.5kg x 8
67.5kg x 8
Calibrated plates. This was harder than expected.
Pullup/lateral raise s/s:
x 5/ 5kgs x 10
x 5/ 5kgs x 10
x 5/ 5kgs x 10
60s rest. Grand.
In and out in ~55 minutes. Graaand.0 -
September 20
3 times in the gym in a week. Sweet. Looks like Mon/Wed/Fri might be a regular thing for the foreseeable future. 3 short sessions a week isn't optimal but I'll take it.
Squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
90kg x 1
95kg x 8
95kg x 8
95kg x 8
Calibrated plates. First set was a heap of crap. Wasn't breathing into my balls and bar was heavy in my hands. Fixed all that for 2nd and 3rd sets and they were a piece of piss. Might actually load up the weight properly for next week.
Bench:
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Easy.
45 back raise/CG lat pulldown:
x 10/41kg x 10
x 20/47kg x 15
x 20/NG pullup x 6
x 20/NG pullup x 6
Hamstring pump, fcuk yeah. Switch from pulldowns because the only other person in the gym decided to steal the lat pulldown when I wasn't looking. At least it gave me an excuse to compose myself as I walked over to do pullups.
Gym got a deadlift bar. Was tempted to YOLO max out but did my best not to be an idiot.0 -
September 23
Squat:
20kg x something
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* belt *
100kg x 3
110kg x 1
120kg x 1
130kg x 1
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
Felt good today. Decided to go up in 10s until something felt RPE 8ish. Really happy with how 130kg felt and moved so cut and run.
WG bench:
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 3
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
Also liked how these felt. Meant to do 4 sets though. Oops.
Lat pulldown:
47kg x 10
53kg x 12
53kg x 12
53kg x 12
Grand.
Facepulls:
29kg x 8
35kg x 15
35kg x 15
35kg x 15
Paused. Upper back burned like hell. Probably because I haven't done these in too long.
Nice day. Happy. One of those days where I felt like I might not be weak forever.0 -
September 25
Deadlift:
20kg x 5 (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 3
125kg x 3
135kg x 5
135kg x 5
135kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Had 125-135kg in mind going into the gym and everything felt good from the start. First set was spot on. Got a bit tired towards the end of the last set when setup became sloppy. Overall, pretty happy considering I haven't pulled from the floor in a few weeks.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 8
32.5kg x 8
32.5kg x 8
32.5kg x 8
Misread plates and thought it was 35kg. Oops. Felt really weak. Haven't been overhead pressing much recently.
DB lunge walks/tricep pressdown:
10kgs x 6/41kg x 12
15kgs x 6/47kg x 12
15kgs x 6/47kg x 12
15kgs x 6/47kg x 12
Grand.
In and out in ~50 minutes. Can't complain.0 -
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September 27
Squat:
20kg x something
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 1
100kg x 8
100kg x 8
100kg x 8
Form was off today. Recorded first set at hip level and depth wasn't there. Tried sinking it for 2nd set and hit just about parallel, but ended up being lazy with upper back tightness. 3rd set was a bit better but still a bit rubbish.
Maybe my hips were tighter than expected because I did 5 hours of driving yesterday; I dunno. I usually record from floor level and depth looks good. Maybe my depth has been crap for a few weeks and I only just realised.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 8
70kg x 5
85kg x 1
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Top single felt heaaavy in my hands and I honestly thought I'd get pinned. But I still benched it and it absolutely flew. Guess I'm not used to having heavier weight in my hands.
Facepulls/lat pulldowns/45 back raise:
29kg x 10/47kg x 10/x 10
35kg x 15/47kg x 12/x 15
35kg x 15/47kg x 12/x 15
35kg x 15
Grand. Ran out of time so had to fly.
First day since regular training that hadn't been a complete success. Can't complain really.0 -
September 30
Did a good bit of calf stretching this morning. I don't understand why, but stretching my calf muscles has a history of fixing weird issues I've been having elsewhere in my body. Hoping my depth will somehow improve.
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5 (paused)
75kg x 5
* belt *
95kg x 3
115kg x 2
125kg x 1
137.5kg x 1
115kg x 5
115kg x 5
115kg x 5
Calibrated plates. 125kg felt like crap. When I unracked the 137.5kg, it felt awful. It's 30kg below my PB so I was stubborn and wanted to squat it, but it sort of scared me. I instantly had visions of it crushing me along with my ego. The responsible thing would have been to rack it and ask for a spot, but I did it anyway. And whaddya know, it flew up. And hit depth. Feck sake.
WG bench:
20kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 5
72.5kg x 8
72.5kg x 8
72.5kg x 8
Calibrated plates. Last set got sloppy as I lost shoulder tension mid-set. Corrected it for last few reps. Grand.
Supersetted everything with 20 band pullaparts as I was short on time and knew I'd have to skip my usual round of accessories.
NG pullup:
x 1
x 10
Had an AMRAP in mind. Didn't expect to get to 10, so quit then. Could have made it 11 or 12. Cool.
Grand day.0 -
October 2
Deadlift:
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
125kg x 3
145kg x 2
160kg x 1
145kg x 5
145kg x 5
145kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Video showed my 1st reps were all perfect but hips started a little high from 2nd onwards, albeit still with a neutral spine. Kinda like accidental stiff legged DLs. Tried fixing it for last set but it looked like I was squatting the weight off the floor. Hmm.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
35kg x 8
35kg x 8
35kg x 8
Easy.
Goblet squat/dip:
20kg x 8/x 3
30kg x 8/x 5
30kg x 8/x 5
30kg x 8/x 5
Goblet squats were fine but left me short of breath. My pullups AMRAP the other day left me feeling confident in doing similar numbers for bodyweight dips but I knew from the warmup set of 3 that it wasn't happening. Maybe in a few weeks.
Grand day. In and out in 65 minutes.0 -
October 4
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5
75kg x 5
95kg x 3
105kg x 8
105kg x 8
105kg x 8
Calibrated plates. Form was off and depth wasn't always there, just like last Friday. Kinda frustrating. Only thing I can think of is a belt gives me more confidence/ability to squat a little deeper. I dunno. But anyway, strength-wise, things were fine.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
82.5kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
Calibrated plates. 90kg moved the same as the 85kg last week. It felt just as heavy in my hands but I had more confidence. But the backoffs were really tough; felt like I was hitting the limit of what I can rep while ad hoccing my training.
Paused facepulls/wide NG pullups:
29kg x 12/x 3
29kg x 12/x 3
29kg x 12/x 3
Continuous; no breaks because I had no time and wanted to do some direct work for the back.
Grand day.0 -
Mark Rippetoe wrote: »Calibrated plates. Form was off and depth wasn't always there, just like last Friday. Kinda frustrating. Only thing I can think of is a belt gives me more confidence/ability to squat a little deeper. I dunno.
I think you just have to force yourself to go what feels like very deep. When I started back squatting when i felt the hip was ok with it, I was just the wrong side of borderline too often. I had to go what felt like Clarence levels of depth until after doing it consciously it just felt like it was the norm again and all that had happened was a bit of a reset and depth was where it always consistently was.
Tl;Dr force it deeper for a bit and you'll reset.0 -
October 7
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5
75kg x 5
* belt *
95kg x 3
95kg x 1
115kg x 3
125kg x 2
135kg x 1
145kg x 1
115kg x 5
115kg x 5
115kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Asked for a spot for the 145kg as I wanted to move the bar using my legs; not fear of dying. Everything stayed tight but it moved pretty slowly. After today, I'm considering 150kg to be my estimated 1RM. Good bit down from my PB but it's a starting point.
Re depth woes: I recorded the 75kg and 95kg warmup, i.e. before and after belt to see if my theory of belt helping with depth and nope. 95kg was also high despite feeling like I sunk it. Had one more try with 95kg except I braced the absolute bejaysus out of my upper back and yeah, hit depth. Looks like it's not the belt affecting depth; it's the inconsistent bracing. After that, I ensured I braced the upper back the exact same way every single rep and right now, my upper back is killing me. Some ood was done today IMO.
WG tng bench:
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
70kg x 8
Calibrated plates. Supersetted with 20 band pullaparts. Lowered the weight slightly, went tng and added two more sets as I believe more bench volume is what I need right now.
NG pullup:
x 3
x 10
Yeah, no more left after the 10 today.
Grand day. Was kinda productive, if anything.0 -
October 9
Deadlift:
20kg x something (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
125kg x 3
145kg x 3
165kg x 3
165kg x 3
135kg x 3 (paused)
Calibrated plates. Kinda YOLO'd this. Was going to do a single at 175kg and 5s at 155kg. Last rep of first set had back rounding. Tried to do it properly for a second set but exact same thing happened. Back was tired so cut my losses and didn't try a third time. Did some light-ish paused deadlifts after to double check I was using leg drive properly.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
Easy.
Bradford presses:
20kg x 10
20kg x 10
20kg x 10
Saw these a while ago and wanted to give them ago to see if they're a time-efficient shoulder health exercise. Yeah, it burned.
Dips/belt squat:
x 1/50kg x 10
x 8/80kg x 10
x 8/80kg x 10
x 8/80kg x 10
Dips were far easier this week. Belt squat because I hate myself and my quads are weak. First time using it properly too.0 -
October 11
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 3
75kg x 5
* belt *
95kg x 3
105kg x 1
110kg x 8
110kg x 8
110kg x 6
Calibrated plates. Felt something in my hamstring and ended last set early. Probably an overreaction. Other than that, form was shakey for first two sets but solid AF for last one, which makes my premature exit frustrating.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 1
95kg x 1
85kg x 5
85kg x 5
85kg x 5
Calibrated plates. 95kg was slow but it went up, as did my ass. In retrospect, I probably didn't cue sticking my knees out. Backoff sets were difficult, as expected.
Wide NG pullup/ facepulls:
x 3/29kg x 10
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
Grand.
Mixed bag of a day.0 -
October 14
2ct pause squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
75kg x 5
* belt *
95kg x 3
115kg x 3
115kg x 3
115kg x 3
115kg x 3
115kg x 3
Calibrated plates. More ad hoc stuff. Logic for paused squats being I wanted to sink my hips down and stay there to try remain solid and keep maximum back tension. My paused squat has always been far, far below regular squat so it was nice to bang out a mostly solid 5x3.
WG bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 8
70kg x 3
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
Calibrated plates. Grand.
WG NG pullup/facepulls:
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
x 5/29kg x 15
Graaand.
Brought my work laptop to the gym and used gym wifi to start my morning's work between sets. Allowed me to not rush anything and didn't have to skimp on accessories.0 -
October 16
Paused deadlift:
20kg x 5 (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
125kg x 3
145kg x a few doubles and triples
* belt off *
145kg x 1
Calibrated plates. Just arsing around here. I've been beltless for a few weeks and my form has been better than ever as a result, but still feel like a belt should help. But nope, for some reason, the belt messes up my start position. Lower back is rounded slightly and I tip forward slightly coming off the ground, which the pause emphasises. Took off the belt, did one rep and it was the best rep of all.
Sumo deadlift:
* belt *
125kg x 3
145kg x 3
145kg x 3
145kg x 3
Calibrated plates and more arsing around. Haven't done sumo since I damaged my hamstring @ 140kg last year. Figured the belt wouldn't impede me the same way it does for conventional. While my sumo form wasn't picture perfect, it wasn't far off.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
Grand.
Dips/belt squat:
x 3/50kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
This will put even more hairs on my chest. Plenty left in the tank after belt squats but I just know my legs will be wrecked tomorrow.
Fun day. And best news of all; I have callouses again and they're starting to tear! My hands had gone soft after having the baby and not deadlifting much and when I did, used straps doing RDLs. Feel like less of a fraud now.0 -
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Mark Rippetoe wrote: »October 16
Paused deadlift:
20kg x 5 (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
125kg x 3
145kg x a few doubles and triples
* belt off *
145kg x 1
Calibrated plates. Just arsing around here. I've been beltless for a few weeks and my form has been better than ever as a result, but still feel like a belt should help. But nope, for some reason, the belt messes up my start position. Lower back is rounded slightly and I tip forward slightly coming off the ground, which the pause emphasises. Took off the belt, did one rep and it was the best rep of all.
Sumo deadlift:
* belt *
125kg x 3
145kg x 3
145kg x 3
145kg x 3
Calibrated plates and more arsing around. Haven't done sumo since I damaged my hamstring @ 140kg last year. Figured the belt wouldn't impede me the same way it does for conventional. While my sumo form wasn't picture perfect, it wasn't far off.
OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
Grand.
Dips/belt squat:
x 3/50kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
x 8/100kg x 10
This will put even more hairs on my chest. Plenty left in the tank after belt squats but I just know my legs will be wrecked tomorrow.
Fun day. And best news of all; I have callouses again and they're starting to tear! My hands had gone soft after having the baby and not deadlifting much and when I did, used straps doing RDLs. Feel like less of a fraud now.
Have you tried wearing the belt slightly higher or anything to see if makes a difference?0 -
I have in the past, but not this morning. That's another thing to try.
I swear it's all in my head. My belt isn't particularly tight or anything.0 -
October 18
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 8
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
85kg x 3
85kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Will be doing a little lifting Sunday so taking it easy today.
Squat:
20kg x something
50kg x 5
75kg x 3
95kg x 3
105kg x 3
105kg x 3
105kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Wearing heels instead of flats as an experiment. No chance of hitting depth with the same stance I've adopted in the heels. Tried a more narrowed stance so depth was easier more manageable, but it felt more unstable and like I lost the ability to transfer power through my legs. Will ask Big Joe about it on Sunday.
Wide NG pullup/facepulls:
x 3/29kg x 12
x 6/35kg x 15
x 6/35kg x 15
x 6/35kg x 15
x 6/35kg x 15
Grand.
I like the whole thing about working from the gym between sets. Can get in a bit of extra through accessories.0 -
October 20
Seminar with Joe Sullivan. First two hours were mainly him talking about breathing and bracing. He is very anti-dogma, i.e. he is aware there is no one-size-fits-all technique for performing any movement so doesn't impose his way of doing things on anybody, but merely puts forward a case for it and suggests people to try it. There were two things that were kinda mind blowing:
1) Big breath before bracing isn't necessarily the best way of bracing. I've always breathed down into my core and/or breathed into my belt. He demonstrated that forcibly exhaling engages the core more solidly than breathing in and pushing out. He suggests forcibly exhaling (not softly - try to empty lungs with intent) until the obliques are rock solid, then taking in a quick gasp of air through the nose so you have something in your lungs to prevent passing out.
2) He cued trying to force the ankle bones at each other. He emphasised the three points of contact between foot and floor as a way of preventing knee valgus, which everybody kinda knew anyway. But keeping the three points of contact, try to bring the ankles together. This seemed counter intuitive to keeping knees and toes aligned, but when we tried doing it with bodyweight squats, most of us cramped up our adductors. He referenced some recent Greg Nuckols articles where the adductor is a primary mover in the squat. Well, cueing ankles in doesn't cause valgus, but activates the adductors and helps move the weight in the squat.
We went over some warmup techniques. He combined breathing in the 90-90 position, squeezing a foam roller between the legs and holding a kettle bell at an angle to engage the lats as a really fast, full body warmup. But again, the above is only useful if done with intent, i.e. if you can chat with your friend, you're not doing it properly. There was also an banded overhead squat that was horrific.
Squats: I only worked up to a few singles @ 120kg but have a few things to work on. He saw a lot of us as having minor butt wink so fixed it by breaking our hips slightly at the top - just enough so our hamstrings are engaged - before beginning the descent. Somehow, my depth was spot on. Dunno if the butt wink fix or the warmup was responsible. I was happy that there was only one thing I needed to fix with my upper back bracing - my head tends to move all over the shop when going down and up. I need to tuck my chin and keep my spine neutral. Can look wherever I want, but only whole keeping neutral spine.
Bench: I only worked up to a single @ 92.5kg. It was a misloaded 90kg which resulted in my left shoulder slipping and barbell almost crashing down on my face. Didn't go any higher as I was a little freaked. Form wise, I need to control the bar better as apparently, I let the bar drop for the last 1-2 inches. I then tried fixing it and leah, my lats were on fire and it felt like the bar was taking forever to reach chest height. Other than that, my form seems solid.
Deadlift: I asked about my belt woes and gave the forced exhaling a try and low and behold, back was spot on. But I need to put my knees out and move my hips forward a bit to fix positioning overall. I had been cueing hips back to flatten my lower back but it had adverse effects. Not much needed changing but at least I figured out the belt thing.
Some people went for PRs today and most got them. I resisted the temptation because even with form fixes, my strength isn't anywhere near the level of PRs. I have quite a few new things to drill so I'll work on them for a few weeks and worry about PRs another time.
Also, Joe is incredibly, incredibly sound.0 -
October 23
Got a new Inzer prong belt. 10mm but stiff as a plank. Gonna take a while to break it in, methinks.
Squat:
20kg x something
* belt *
70kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Trying to drill in new cues. New breathing/bracing method wasn't working for me (I hadn't tried it for squats before) so abandoned in favour of old way. Reps were only ok and I realised too late I was paying more attention to my lower body and forgetting to brace properly with upper back. And head position completely forgot about that. Feck sake.
Bench:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
Calibrated plates. These were almost like 310 tempo bench. I was trying to fix my lat tension and controlled descent so much that it was practically tempo reps. Bar felt heavier than expected. And my lats/upper back were in bits after it. Humble weight humbled me.
NG wide pullup/facepull:
x 3/29kg x 10
x 5/35kg x 15
x 5/35kg x 15
x 5/35kg x 15
x 5/35kg x 15
x 5/35kg x 15
Grand.
Took around 2 hours to do the above. I was off so was taking my time. Still wrecked from it.
I like the belt but yeah, it's a pain to use right now. Coupled with having used a lever belt for years means this will take getting used to.0 -
Lever belt keep popping open on you?
Haven't had that but I do have the Strengthshop double prong which had been a faithful and painless servant and always comes with me to comps...0 -
Not while braced, but it had a tendency to pop open if I exhaled a bit and it was at a certain angle.
I mainly wanted to move away from lever as I wanted to be able to adjust tightness without needing a screwdriver. SBD could have provided that but 13mm just feels like too much for me.0 -
I'd miss the sassy popping of the lever after a heavy lift if I moved away from lever belt
#lever4lyfe0 -
I can imagine. Until this belt gets worn in, any satisfying lift will be followed by rushing up to an upright to help release the stupidly tight prong0
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October 25
Deadlift:
70kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 3
155kg x 5
155kg x 5
155kg x 5
Calibrated plates. Using new breathing technique. Strength felt good but form looked a bit dodgy. First rep usually fine but deteriorated in later reps. Still need practise.
Sumo deadlift:
125kg x 4
125kg x 8
125kg x 8
Calibrated plates. Just picked a weight that was light but I could still take the slack out of the bar without pulling it off the ground and did some high reps. Was thinking of 10 reps but by jaysus I was out of breath by 5 so cut them short.
I'm thinking about switching back to sumo at some point so will aim to do lots of light-ish reps to get myself used to the uncomfortable starting position.
Bench:
20kg x 8
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
Calibrated plates. Again, getting used to using my lats properly. Got easier as the sets went on and upper back was on fire. Found I was able to use leg drive fairly liberally without my ass rising. Nice.
Tricep pushdown/belt squat:
35kg x 10/100kg x 10
47kg x 15/120kg x 10
47kg x 15/120kg x 10
47kg x 15/120kg x 10
Wanted to do more sets but ran out of time as I needed to scavenge the town for bottles of water :mad:
Grand day. Feeling stronger less weak than usual0
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