also, with Chin Ups, Standing Cable Rows, Single arm DB Rows, OHP and Lat Pull Downs is there any region of the back that is neglected? OHP will hit traps right?

and with FS, no DLs and very light TBDLs, should there be other safe but direct low back work or is my core training good enough as it is?

As long as you dont have any shoulder irregularities or feel like your shoulders are rolling forward, yeah. You could add light face pulls though.

yes

You do not need any direct low back work. Your core training is probably good, but I'm not enough of an expert to tell you if its perfect or not. If you feel like you need perfection, I suggest getting Mike Robertson's "Complete Core" program. If you study that program, you'll learn a lot about different types of core training. That might not be necessary, but its great if you want an advanced level of knowledge on the subject. It seems like you might.

cool thanks, yea, i'll check it out

Mar 26

(kg)

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5 x 2
72.5 x 5 x 5

Chin Ups
10, 8, 5, 2, 2

OHP
22.5 x 10
39.5 x 8 x 5 -- PR -- Maybe last 2 sets had a couple of dirty reps but still considerably decent form throughout

Lat Pull Down
100lb x 8 x 3

Single Arm DB Rows
20 x 8 x 3

RDL
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
72.5 x 8 x 3


Planks
bw +5kg x 4 sets of 5 reps, 15s hold

3 mo position pullover
10kg x 3 sets of 8

Dead Bugs
5kg x 3 sets of 8 on each side

Side Planks
bw +5kg x 3 sets of 3, holds varied from 20s to 10s

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +3kg x 3 sets of 20 on each leg

27 Mar

Planks
bw +5kg x 3 sets of 5 reps, 15s hold

3 mo position pullover
10kg x 3 sets of 8

Dead Bugs
5kg x 3 sets of 8 on each side

Side Planks
bw +5kg x 3 sets of 3, 15s hold

Glute Bridge
bw +5kg x 20 x 3

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +3kg x 3 sets of 20 on each leg

Did some forward hinging after the kicks with the ankle weights still on and felt I was able to hinge deeper (knees slightly flexed) than I have in ages. Felt really good.

Dead Bugs are also amazing at getting rid of the tightness I feel in my QL ara on the left side of lower back

28 Mar

(kg)

CGBP
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
67.5 x 8 x 3

Chin Ups
5, 3, 2 ---> all with very slow negatives

Standing Cable Rows
130lb x 8 x 5

Machine Chest Flys
120lb x 8 x 3

DB Pullover
27.5 x 12 x 3

Tricep Pushdowns
80lb x 10 x 3

Alternating DB Curls
12.5 x 10 x 3


Later on..

Badminton
3 doubles games x W W L

31 Mar

(kg)

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5
77.5 x 5 x 5

Bench Press
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 3 x 2
82.5 x 5 x 3

Standing Cable Row
140lb x 10 x 3

DB Bench
45 x 12, 10, 10

DB Pullover
25 x 12 x 3

Planks
bw + 5kg x 5 sets of 4, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw +5kg x 5 sets of 4, 15s hold

3 mo position pullover
5kg x 15 x 3

Dead Bugs
5kg x 3 sets of 8 on each side

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +3kg x 3 sets of 20 on each leg

02 Apr

Foam Roller x Quads, Glutes, Obliques, Calves, Hamstrings

(kg)

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

Form was really good at 72.5 so I decided to go a few kgs above my previous best and form was still good. I did some work on core bracing and now I feel my abs a lot more during squats.

Weighted Chin Ups
7kg x 5 x 3

Last few reps had to take a bit of a jump off the ground.


OHP
22.5 x 10
32.5 x 8
39.5 x 8 x 5 <----- approaching a PR soon. I did not track my weights that much before this log but these many reps at that weight is a PR for sure, but when I hit 40+ i'll consider it one for sure.

Lat Pull Down
90lb x 15, 12, 12

Single Arm DB Row
22.5 x 8 x 3

RDL
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
72.5 x 8 x 5

Planks
bw + 7kg x 5 sets of 5 reps, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw + 5kg x 5 sets of 3 reps, 20s hold

3 mo Position Pullover
5kg x 15 x 3

Dead Bugs
5kg x 3 sets of 8 on each side


BEAT: didn't get a good night's sleep

04 Apr

(kg)

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

CGBP
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
67.5 x 8
72.5 x 5 x 3

Standing Cable Row
150lb x 8 x 5

Chin Ups
5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3

DB Flys
25 x 3 x 10

DB Pullover
25 x 12 x 3

DB Curls
12.5 x 10 x 3

Tricep Pushdowns
90lb x 10 x 3


Was pressed on time so I will be doing my usual core work tomorrow

07 Apr

Foam Rolling x Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Obliques, Calves

(kg)

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

Bench Press
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
62.5 x 5
82.5 x 5, 5, 5, 3
62.5 x 8
42.5 x 8 x 2

Standing Cable Row
150lb x 10 x 5

Trap Bar DL
85 x 8 x 6

DB Bench
45 x 12, 10, 8

DB Pullover
25 x 12 x 3

Planks
bw +7kg x 4 sets of 5, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw +5kg x 4 sets of 5, 15s hold

Dead Bugs
bw + 4kg x 3 sets of 8

3 month Position Pullover
15 x 15 x 3

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +2kg x 20 x 3

09 Apr

(kg)

Foam Rolling x Quads, Glutes, Calves, Obliques, Hamstrings

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 10
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

Weighted Chin Ups
bw + 5kg x 7, 5, 5, 3

OHP
22.5 x 10
32.5 x 8
42.5 x 8, 6, 6, 6, 5 --> PR
32.5 x 8

Man this OHP killed me. Not 4 months ago I was barely able to do 5 total reps @ 42.5kg. Although today I failed at completing the 8 x 5, I am quite satisfied by the progress and my shoulders and upper back felt absolutely spent afterwards.

Single Arm DB Row
22.5 x 10 x 3

Lat Pull Down
100lb x 10 x 3

TBDL
85 x 8 x 6

Planks
bw + 7kg x 5 sets of 5 reps, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw + 5kg x 4 sets of 4 reps, 15s hold

Dead Bugs
bw +5kg x 8 x 3 ---> right at the bottom position I have trouble keeping my lower back on the floor. If I cut short the ROM by a couple of inches then I can keep the back completely floored. At the end it basically feels like my glutes kick in but I don't know if my back feels lifted from the floor due to the shape of the butt or a slight tilting of the pelvis.

3 month Position Pullover
15 x 15 x 3

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +4kg x 20 x 3


Adding weight to Front Squats is getting hard. Mostly its fatigue that kicks in from holding the weight up the way you are supposed to.

When I was doing LBBS, I was hitting 225lb x 5 x 5 and not using a belt. Should I be using a belt at this weight? There's a few logs on here I was checking out where belts are being used at sub 300 squats for triples and singles.

I am thinking about starting LBBS again at a slightly lower weight and move up slowly. My upper body and core strength has improved a lot and bracing and stability issues are also much better. I really want to have at least one heavy whole body move in my program and it can't be DLs and my upper body strength is not enough to add weight to FS as fast as I could otherwise. It's not a core issue as much as the fatigue in my arms and shoulders as I mentioned above

Belt - If you learn how to use it properly, I believe you can make your core stronger by using it. If you look at it as a safety device, that's doing it completely wrong. The belt does nothing to protect your back, but I believe when you use it properly, you can make your core stronger. I dont think people should get hung up on the amount of weight they're moving when using a belt. They should have laser-like focus on their form though.

The middle part of this video talks about breathing into the low back while wearing a belt. This is what you want to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vu3eG5zWas


Dead bugs - You're losing tightness in your abs if your back is coming up off the ground. Reduce the ROM rather than arching your back imo, but try to get to the point where you can do them with a flat back all the way down.

Belt - I was looking at it like something that can help me brace even better. I would think the belt would allow you to have a constant feedback as to how tightly you're braced.

Video was cool. I have seen another one you posted regarding belts that talked about the same - breathing into your lower back. That has actually been the best cue for me when it comes to bracing.

11 Apr

(kg)

Foam Rolling x Quads, Glutes, Calves, Obliques, Hamstrings

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 10
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

CGBP
32.5 x 10
42.5 x 10
62.5 x 3
77.5 x 5, 4, 4 ------> my cgbp is getting awfully close to my normal bench
62.5 x 8 x 2

Standing Cable Row
80lb x 10
161lb x 10 x 5

Chin Ups
7, 7, 6, 4

DB Bench
50 x 12, 10, 8

Incline Bench
42.5 x 12
52.5 x 8
42.5 x 8 x 2

DB Pullover
25 x 12 x 3

Chest Flys
30 x 10 x 3

Tricep Pushdowns
80lb x 10 x 3

DB Bicep Curls
30 x 8 x 3

Planks
bw +8kg, 3 sets of 4 reps, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw +6kg, 3 sets of 3 reps, 15s hold

Dead Bugs
bw +5kg x 8 x 3

3 month Position Pullover
15 x 15 x 3

Hamstrings were sore and tight from TBDLs on wednesday so I skipped RDLs. Added some extra chest work too because now I have two day rest and really want to hit 84.5kg in Bench Press on monday.

Here's the design for my Trap Bar:

It's pretty simple but took a bit of time because the designers at work are usually pretty busy. Manufacturing will take a couple of weeks, maybe more. It depends on how easily I am able to convince the shop supervisor to buffer it into his production plans but the good thing is that our unit has all the necessary machining capability to produce the final product sans hard chrome plating.






It's basically solid rods all the way through. Probably gonna weigh a lot but I didn't ask the designer for the exact weight.
I can share the raw design files, but I reckon there is no one who really needs or wants them

Depending on how it comes out, I might try to convince the management we should get into weight training equipment manufacturing. Beware Rogue Fitness

That is really cool, especially if you can get it made for real. What cad program did you use?

Thanks, some version of Solidworks i believe.

14 Apr

(kg)

Foam Rolling x Quads, Glutes, Calves, Obliques, Hamstrings

Bench Press (there was a queue at the squat stand so started with this)
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 10
67.5 x 5
84.5 x 5, 4, 4, 2 ----> another PR! First set was smooth and almost got the 5th rep in the second. In the third set it never went up.
62.5 x 8 x 3


Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 10
72.5 x 5
82.5 x 5 x 5

Standing Cable Rows
161lb x 10 x 5

DB Bench
50 x 10, 8, 7

DB Pullover
27.5 x 8 x 3

Chin Ups
5, 5, 3

RDL
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
77.5 x 8 x 3

Planks
bw +8kg, 3 sets of 4 reps, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw +6kg, 3 sets of 3 reps, 15s hold

Dead Bugs
bw +5kg x 8 x 3

3 month Position Pullover
15 x 15 x 3

Lying Leg Raise
3 sets of 8

Nice.

Congrats on the PR.

Awesome.
Got an engineer stiffy here, sort of.

Solidworks you say, no AutoCAD?
A catalogue of materials used?
What amount of weight is the thing rated for?
What's the weakest link, the weldings?
Stress tests? cha flies over and DLs 800lb?

The turning will happen on a CNC turn-mill center so the drawings had to be done on SW because we have a link for designs from sw to go directly into the machine's controller.

Material is all Mild steel (will ask for the grade). I will also ask the guy for a quick 30 min FE analysis (wouldn't have been possible if it was an Autocad drawing afaik) to check for stresses, deflection etc because we are using MS instead of regular steel and I also wanna know why we are doing so. I am no mechanical engineer and he said the bar should be able to lift plenty of weight. It's 25mm solid steel bars all around and 50mm sleeves for the weight. That's pretty rugged and basically very close to every other design I saw on the internet including Cha's own bar.

I think my bar is ~30mm except the sleeves. It weighs 78 lbs I think.

Cool. The designer was pretty confident of the 25mm thickness and it was gonna weigh somewhere around 25kg I believe. I had him switch to 32mm (that's the bar available to us). He was worried about the extra weight but that's not an issue for me. I think my bar will be somewhere between 70-80lbs.

I'd imagine 25mm solid steel (even if it wasn't as high quality as possible) is more than enough for any weight you're ever going to lift with it.
But ofc the sturdier, the better.

Sleeves are 50.80mm (w/ 0.3 mm tolerance if I read the table correctly) in the drawing?
I assume you're using kilo plates. Why not exactly 50mm?

50.8mm is exactly 2", which was the spec on Cha's bar as well. The diameter of the hole in my gym's plates is 53mm and that of the sleeves of bars is ~50mm and the plates fit rather loosely. I decided to just go spec for spec and we'll get a snugger fit I am sure.

Yea 25mm is enough I am sure but we have both sizes at the plant and I am just going to go for the sturdier one.

We'll have to send the handles out for knurling since we don't have the necessary equipment to do that fine of a job. I am actually about to go talk to the welder in a few and explain the process to him. The turning for the sleeves will start in a couple of days.

Oh and hard chrome plating also will be outsourced