W12D1

Bench Test: wu, 245x1, 260x1, 270xf

Pretty meh; I'm not sure if being sick and/or staying up too late watching NBA and gorging on Halloween candy over the last few nights truly affected things, but I felt relatively fine today, so who knows. 260, which I hit for a grindy single six weeks ago, was enough of a foregone conclusion that I didn't bother getting a spot (it went up easily), and the guy spotting me at 270 let me fight it for a good couple seconds, and only took it when I asked, so I couldn't really ask for much more there. If I'd gotten even half an inch higher, I could have locked it out, but I just couldn't quite get it; on the plus side, the 270 rep was probably my most controlled rep over the last few inches of the eccentric, so some progress there.

Whenever I start Sheiko for real, I'll probably just plug a 255 1RM in for competition bench and pause everything. DL tomorrow.

What’s your overall rating on the program in terms of results and enjoyment?

Maybe 7 or 8 out of 10; it's a good mix of higher rep work without straying too far away from heavier work, and is probably ok if you're looking for a more hypertrophy/volume focused block. Certainly not as soul crushing as RPElf.

August 19th: 188.4
August 27th: 187.8 (-.6 lbs)
September 3rd: 189.6 (+1.8 lbs, +1.2 overall)
September 10th: 188.6 (-1.0 lbs, +0.2 overall)
September 17th: 186.4 (-2.2 lbs, -2 lbs overall)
September 24th: 186.8 (+0.4 lbs, -1.6 lbs overall)
October 1st: 187.8 (+1.0 lbs, -0.6 lbs overall)
October 8th: 186.0 (-1.8 lbs, -2.4 lbs overall)
October 15th: 187.8 (+1.8 lbs, -0.6 lbs overall)
October 22nd: 192.2 (+4.4 lbs, +3.8 lbs overall)
October 29th: 189.4 (-2.8 lbs, +1.0 lbs overall)
November 5th: 193.0 (+3.6 lbs, +4.6 lbs overall)
November 12th: 191.4 (-1.6 lbs, + 3 lbs overall)

Calorie Target: 3500

Average Calories: 3449 (218 p/100 f/476 c)

Pretty bad week of eating; need to tighten things up a bit moving forward.

W12D2

DL Test: wu, 365x1, 395x1, 415xf

395, while slow, was never in doubt, but 415 barely broke the floor. Only mildly disappointed, given it's 10 lbs off my PR six weeks after my form was broken to the point I wasn't sure I was going to continue deadlifting heavy at all.

Especially for deadlift, this program's lack of practice at heavy singles hurt me, as I have pretty consistently lifted less weight than I "should" as per e1RM calculations across the board, and my less than optimal start position on my initial rep probably hurts me proportionally more on this lift specifically. As a wise ant once said, oh well, we move on. OHP Tuesday or Wednesday, hopefully.

Pretty crazy last few days; was in Boston Monday through Wednesday, after which the plan was to fly home that evening then get to Chicago the next morning and meet another client, while also finding time to renew my passport and get a PRC#273 visa for a trip the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My flight home from Boston ended up being cancelled, so I flew directly to Chicago; by the time my passport was ready, the consulate was closed, so I stayed another day. That delay meant my visa won't be ready until Tuesday, which means instead of bringing my family home to see my parents for Thanksgiving on Tuesday, we're just going to scrap it, considering I have to leave for PRC at 6 am the following Saturday. The minis are a bit salty/sad.

In any case, no time to train this week, so I just scrapped press and squat max testing, ended J&T, and moved onto the program fakeb sent me.

Sheilfko C1W1D1

Squat: 185x5, 210x4, 245x3x2, 275x2x4 (2.5 minutes)

Comp Bench: 135x5, 155x4, 185x3x2, 205x3x5 (2.5 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12

Squat: 165x5, 195x4, 225x3x2, 260x2x4 (2.5 minutes)

Low Incline Cable Fly: 25.5x10x5 (1 minute)

Back Extensions (bw+25): 4x10 (1 minute)

Set the maxes relatively conservatively given I'd missed a few extra days and I'm switching to competition bench. I also widened my bench grip (from middle finger on the ring to index finger on the ring), and tried to concentrate on keeping my upper back tight. Everything felt nice and smooth, though it was a decent amount of volume I suppose. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Squat twice in one workout? No thanks.

jd,

I like to think of it as one long squat session broken up by benching!

Recoverywise, I'm a bit DOMSy, but not to the extent that it affected anything.

11/19: Sheilfko C1W1D2

Deficit DL: 225x3, 245x3x2, 285x2x4 (2.5 minutes)

Incline Bench: wu, 175x4x5 (2.5 minutes)
Lying Incline Reverse DB Fly: 5x10

Towel Press: wu, 205x3x5 (2.5 minutes)
Lat Pulldown: 4x10

Dips: +45x6x5 (2 minutes)

Pretty quick session; just performed the deficit DLs in squat shoes, and they were pretty snappy/easy. Everything after that was suggested work, not required, so I tried to keep the relative intensity low-ish. The plan as of today is to lift again Wednesday and Friday prior to my trip to China, and then resume after I get home.

What are some recipes for side dishes for Thanksgiving? Assuming new donk cook. Also, I have to cross border to get girl at 3pm and then cross back to have dinner at 6pm. So I need to make in the morning to serve in the evening. Help man. They have to be can't miss. Gave my mom two day notice that I was coming. One healthy option would be nice too but if all you got is lobster Mac n cheese, send me the recipe.

Help from anyone else would also be appreciated.

Sorry loco, just saw this. Will look later.

11/21: Sheilfko C1W1D3

DL: 225x3, 245x3, 285x3x2, 325x3x2, 345x2x4 (2.5 minutes)

Comp Bench: wu, 135x5, 165x4, 190x3x2, 215x2x5 (3 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12

Front Squat: wu, 185x4x5 (2.5 minutes)

Low Incline Cable Fly: 5x10 (1 minute)

Back Extensions: +35x10x4 (1 minute)

Pretty k, though I had to take an hour+ break to meet/greet holiday guests staying at our house. Maybe 80 minutes total? Not sure exactly, but pretty brisk when I was there.

Went with lobster kebabs, I don't see how I can fack those up.

Got KC/DT fat yesterday. Much dessert.

11/23: Sheilfko C1W1D4

Squat: 165x5, 195x4, 230x3x2, 260x3x5 (2.5 minutes)

Comp Bench: 135x5, 160x4, 185x3x2, 205x3x6 (2 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12
V-Grip Pulldown: 4x12

Squat: 185x5, 210x5, 245x4x4 (2.5 minutes)

CG Bench: 135x10x5 (2 minutes)

OHP: wu, 85x10x3 (2 minutes)

EZ Curl: 65x10x3 (90 seconds)

Hammer DB Curl: 30x10x3 (90 seconds)

Everything felt mostly fine, apart from the belt being a bit tight. Still have a bit of that scap/sub-scap weakness/soreness on my left side, so I'm just going to lighten the weight a bit on back accessories and hope it goes away. It's a bit sore when I squat, but only barely noticeable otherwise.

Did the mandatory part of the program (squat + comp bench + squat) in a shade over an hour, then the prescribed accessory work (CG + OHP) and some brief gun stuff in about an additional half an hour. 95ish minutes total.

Flying to Shanghai tomorrow at 6 am, so no lifting next week. Hopefully I don't come back with black lung.

Really, it's just all one long session.

philosoraptor.jpg

Hope China is fun. If you want to stay there (>Indiana imo?) lmk, I will hire you!

DT,

Intriguing offer! Can I still make hurtful but accurate comments about the ongoing and dramatic S7 Downton Flabbey storylines if I'm your American PRC serf?

China has been essentially fine; literally no time to do anything but work, so outside of the one hour additional delay at passport control when entering the country because my one week old passport photo didn't look enough like me to let me through initially, there has been nothing interesting to report. It took five airport cops, three additional forms of ID (including my old passport, which luckily I thought to bring), and a few photos before they finally agreed that I was me, so good times and all that.

Two more working days, then I fly home Saturday.

What's going on? I thought AbbeyBoy was on a cut?

No you may not, but good job understanding the asking permission part of the job. I will E-mail the PRC secret police and retract what I said about you being a free tibet uygur spy. It will probably be great to spend the holidays with your fam instead of an also-pretty-cool Xinjiang re-education camp.

Rexx this isn't the appease vegan idiots thread! I am surprised to see you here. I am not on a cut, nor have I gained weight. Thank you for asking. How is your weight doing? K.

I keep an eye on quite a few threads tyvm AB and the conversation was on your weight not mine so your diversionary tactics will not be successful!

12/2: Sheilfko C1W1D5

Deadlift to knee: wu, 225x3, 245x3, 285x3x2, 325x2x5 (2.5 minutes)

Comp Bench: 135x5, 165x4, 190x4x5 (2 minutes)

Towel Bench: 205x3x5 (2 minutes)

Below the Knee Rack Pull: 265x3, 305x3, 345x3x2, 385x3x4 (3 minutes)

Leg Press: 380x4x5 (2 minutes)

OHP: 95x8x3 (2 minutes)

Feeling a bit tired/detrained from the week+ off and the extensive air travel/jet lag (I got in at 2 am this morning), but managed to get through this one. Bench stuff was easy, but rack pulls were pretty tough when I'd guess they weren't designed to be.

Any plans to check out Indy City Barbell? It opened last weekend and looks pretty nice. And Steve Gentilli is a good lifter, so I'm sure all the equipment is top notch.

I probably will, yes, as it's 4ish blocks from my house. Any idea how much it costs? I can't find anything online. The Y I currently lift at is only 1.5 blocks from my house, though, and has the added utility of having a membership that I can use when I'm on the road and near a Y, which is essentially anywhere in the US, which given my current travel schedule is a pretty nice cost savings as well. The pictures on Facebook do look really nice, though, and being part of a gym with (presumably) really strong people would probably help me out.

Oh nice, that's super close. I'm not sure on the cost, I haven't heard. I'll reach out to someone I know in that area and see if they have an idea.

Y makes tons of sense for your situation.

Strong atmosphere for sure, and tons of strong guest visits too I'd guess. I suspect it'd be a good environment, that's why I asked.

How's that for not helpful at all?