Hi.

Yeah, I've thought about it. I don't think it's a plantar flexion issue. It never hurts when my knee is bent, such as when sitting. It always hurts when my leg is straight, regardless of whether I can plantar flex or not.

Right now I'm not doing anything about it except single leg press once per week. Just kind of hoping it goes away. It isn't getting any worse.

Thursday, November 15, 2018 Training

Squat w/belt: 120 @7, 130 [PR] @9, 105x4, 110x4, 117.5x4 [PR] @8.5, 110x4

Chin-up (70kg): 0x5, 5x5, 12.5x5 [PR and PR total weight], 7.5x5 x2 sets

Press: 32.5x6, 36.5x6, 40x6, 40x6, 40x5 @8.5

Single Leg Press: 60x10 x4 sets each leg

***

I weighed in at a crisp 68.1 this morning, coming off a 1600-calorie day. My modafinil finally arrived so I popped one of those this morning and it proved quite the performance enhancer. Might as well have one of my best gym days ever. For the last two squat days, I've been making sure to shift the pressure to forefoot before descending (you can see me rock forward slightly while I get my air). It's probably the most instantly-effective cue I've ever tried for the squat. Depth, while not quite as good as the tempos the other day, was pretty good considering these are max weights for me.

I'm getting a bit better at video editing.

lol'd, gj

A+ thug life edit

Niiiice shades. Nice job getting that last rep in too. Wim

lol good stuff

Impressive into and out of the hole. The shades were a nice touch.

Thanks, guys and gal. No meme-edited videos today, unfortunately.


Friday, November 16, 2018 Training

Bench Press: 72.5, 76.5 @8, 65x4, 68.5x4 @7.5, 72.5x3f, 72.5x2f, 67.5x4

Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 65x6, 85x6, 95x6, 100x6 x3 sets @<6

***

Yesterday I woke up with a lump in my throat and by today it became a full blown throat infection. I slept maybe 2 hours last night. I loaded up on carbs and caffeine for this one but I still felt really bad. I wanted to throw up the whole time and had a splitting headache.

It's pretty surprising that benching went as well as it did under the circumstances. Based on ease of the top single, I felt like I was banking the 80 PR in favor of nailing the planned top set of 72.5. The linked 68.5 set is one of my cleanest sets ever. In the first attempt at 72.5, the first rep went straight off the chest, and as I was getting hyped for the second attempt I had to take a call from a client.

I noped the shit out of the accessory work. Deadlifts bring some perspective, though. It wasn't that long ago that I failed a 100x5 deadlift; now I can SLDL 100 for sets of 6 on a bad day and it's barely more than active recovery.

Sunday, November 18, 2018 Training

Deadlift: 132.5 @7, 140 [PR] @9ish

Pause Deadlift: 105x3, 110x3, 115x3 x3 sets

Pause Bench Press: 60x5, 62.5x5 x3 sets @8.5

Beltless HBBS: 60x8 (high), 70x8 (deeper), breathing pause squats with 60

***

Finally got a decent night's sleep for this one. I was still not 100%, full of antibiotics, but deadlifts felt pretty good so I went for an arbitrary plate milestone. That single was slow but it was also hype-free.

Pause DLs went really well. Bench did not. I ran out of time for the squats so I cut them short.

Nice job. Squat was solid AF.

Thanks. It's great to finally have some breakthroughs with my technique after all this time.



Really rough week for me personally and professionally, not to mention getting sick. I controlled the damage but my protein was dismal.


Monthly Progress Report 21.10-18.11

Press - big fat nothing burger but I'm doing them from a dead stop now, 47.5x1, 47.5x3 from pins, 42.5x4

Bench - 77.5x1, 72.5x3, 70x4, from 73.5x1, 68.5x5. Lots of gains on pause bench.

Squat - 130x1, 117.5x4, from 127.5x1 high, 115x6 high

Deadlift - 140x1, 125x5 from 130x1, 120x5

Bodyweight - 68kg to almost 70kg back to 68kg now


Not sure why I'm still not as strong at pressing as I once was at 62kg bw, but everything else is . I think bench gains are understated because of some untimely bad bench days.

Monday, November 19, 2018 Training

Press: 45, 47.5f, 47.5 ez, 51f, 51f

Pin Press: 45x3, 45x3, 47.5x3, 47.5x3, 47.5x2f, 45x3

Tempo Squat: 90x5, 95x5, 95x5 hard, 90x5

Close-grip Bench Press: 50x8, 57.5x8 x3 sets

NG Chin-up (71kg): 8, 8, 8, 8

***

Meh. Compared to this workout two weeks ago, there is some good progress. Went from 47.5 as a top set to doing it for repeat sets, and managed to add 2.5 kilos to tempo squat.

I am probably going to have to spend more time working on my press if I want it to go up. I had a bit of a Holliday streak today with the singles but the fact of the matter is that if I can press it up without losing balance, it will go up fast.

Thursday, November 22, 2018 Training

Deadlift: 125, 135f, 110x4, 120x4, 130x2f, 120x4 x2 sets

Bench Press: 57.5x6 60x6, 62.5x6 x3 sets @8.5

Barbell Row: 67.5x5 x5 sets

Single Leg Press: 62.5x8 x2 sets, 65x8 x2 sets

***

Pretty disappointing day that I was looking forward to crushing. I brought back the mixed grip because I'd like to eventually be able to pull without straps. It went fine until 125 was weirdly slow. I then strapped up for 135 and barely broke the floor. The rest went about as expected under the circumstances.

Friday, November 23, 2018 Training

Press: 40x2, 45x1 x4 sets, 40x4 x4 sets, 40x6

Squat w/belt: 95x6, 100x6 x3 sets

DB Bench: 20s x10 x2 sets, 25s x6, 20s x10

Chin-up: 6, 8, 8, 7

***

My gym membership expired yesterday so I decided to take a look at a new place. It is really well equipped, with two racks, a Rogue 3.0 bar, SSB, cambered bar, a log, dumbbells up to 70kg, and lots of other cool stuff. There are bumper plates for the olympic lifts I am never going to learn, and a sled and turf for the conditioning that I am never going to do. Needless to say, I got suckered into a $108 month's subscription.

I realized right away that they didn't have plates smaller than 2.5kg, so it made pressing impossible to do as programmed (luckily I have my own 1.25s to bring next time). And from how heavy 45 felt, it was clear that the bar I was using before was less than 20kg. Presses sucked as always but I think my technique at least improved a little. Squats were okay, just felt kinda heavy. I don't think my lower back was rounding but it felt pretty fatigued as those sets went on. It's probably about time for a planned decrease in stress. Too many days of me feeling completely fine yet having reduced performance.

Sunday, November 25, 2018 Training

Squat w/belt: 120, 125 @hard

Tempo Squat w/belt: 100x3, 105x3

Log Strict Press: 20x5, 30x5, 35x5, 30x5

Sumo Deadlift: 70x6, 85x6, 100x6

***

Gonna do a week of just working up to top sets and quitting. Then onto an actual program. Maybe the bridge, not sure yet.

125 was probably about as hard as 130 was last week. I planned to work up to 110x3 but 105 was hard enough after the single that I just cut it there. Instead of pin press I tried my hand at the log. Pretty cool. The neutral handles make it feel a lot better on my shoulders so I think this could be a decent variation of the press to include. Not sure how much the log weighs, felt like 20.

For sumo I was going to work up to an easyish set of 110x6 but 100 felt and looked awkward enough that I just cut it. I think I need to practice this movement more if I am going to include it in a program.

Crap week but it included thanksgiving. Oh well, there's always next week.


Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Training
BBM Heavy Light Medium W1D1

Squat w/belt: 100x5, 107.5x5, 115x5 [PR*] @7.5

Pause Bench: 52.5x5, 60x3, 60x5, 60x5, 62.5x5 @9ish

Block Pull: 105x4, 120x4, 130x4 @8.5, 125x4 @7.5

***

It was between this and the bridge, both very similar programs. I'm a little concerned that it won't be enough pressing, but I'll see how it goes for a cycle.

It was one of those days that I knew squat was going to go well by how 60kg warmup sets felt. Just felt really snappy. (*) I'm calling 115x5 a PR even though I previously hit 115x6 because of the low RPE and because it's at a new depth standard. I think 120x5 was probably there today. I also am almost certain that this Rogue bar is 1-2kg heavier than the bar I squatted with at my old gym. RPE is pretty conservative considering the bar speed on tape. I did the first two reps on a single breath, so by that factor alone that set was nowhere near a 5RM. I don't mind leaving some in the tank though considering it's week 1.

Where do I begin with bench press? I keep discovering things about this gym that are giving me buyer's remorse, in today's case the flat benches not extending far enough past the bar. I can't position myself on the bench where I can self-unrack because my head falls off the end of the bench! Meanwhile, the rack isn't much better since the j-hooks are much deeper than the rack at my old gym. I basically have to use the rack to bench, but it's hard to imagine self-unracking a near-max weight from it. I may need to ask for a hand off for every top set and heavy single from now on if I continue training at this gym.

Block pulls were okay, but felt a little backalicious for my tastes. Probably just not used to doing them. 130x4 is a PR by default, I think back when I did these I was doing 110 for hard sets of 5 across.

I realized toward the end of the workout that I messed up the program, mixing it up with day one of the bridge, which calls for just one top set @8. HLM W1 calls for two sets across of squat and bench. I did an extra set of block pulls to make up for it.

Who is the hlm program targeted for?

It's an 8-week program, 3 days full body + gpp days just like the bridge, similar reps/sets as well. So same demographic as the bridge: early intermediates, people who just finished LP. I'm treating it as a bit of a reduced stress block and will probably go back to 4 days with higher volumes. I may buy their 12 week strength program and run it after this.

I have the full bundle, and everything seems to have a place except for HLM. I just assumed it was there for marketing purposes to get people who are attached to texas method.

I am not sure what the HLM of starting strength yore looked like but this program isn't much like TM. It's just the bridge with rearranged secondary work essentially. I chose it mostly to do something a little different, but I think I might benefit from the modulated intensity. Seems like I have some trouble performing under fatigue, perceived or actual. Seems to me like the psychological aspect of programming is more important than physiological.

Ah ok I haven’t really read the programs carefully, was just inferring based on the names the other programs have very clear goals

Thursday, November 29, 2018 Training
BBM Heavy Light Medium W1D2

Press: 30x5, 35x5, 37.5x5, 40x5 x2 sets @8, 8

Leg Press: 40x8, 80x8, 100x8, 120x8 x2 sets @7.5, 7.5

Pendlay Row: 40x8, 50x8, 55x8, 60x8 x2 sets

***

Light day is light. If I continue believing that the old bar was 18, then "42"x5 @8 isn't the worst, I suppose. A pretty low amount of weight on the leg press was surprisingly heavy, but I guess all machines are different. I like this one because it allows for FULL ROM, unlike the one at my old gym.

Pendlay rows are kinda dumb. I think I did them right but RPEs are pointless given the huge gulf between how many reps I can do strict from the floor vs how many I can do with even a little legs assistance. With 60, I think I did the first 6 reps of each set totally strict.

Also I tweaked something in my mid to upper back during a warmup set of rows. It felt minor enough that I continued without concern, but as soon as I lie down on my back it got 10x worse. Annoying as hell but I doubt it will affect deadlifting.

Friday, November 30, 2018 Training
BBM Heavy Light Medium W1 GPP

Airdyne Bike: 30 minutes RPE 7

Chin-up: AMRAP 7 minutes - 30 reps

Plank*: AMRAP 7 minutes - 21 x 10 sec reps

Glute Ham Raise: 6 reps

***

* Circuited left side plank, prone plank, right side plank.

First cardio I've done in over two years. The bike had an interface that displayed distance, wattage, etc, but I couldn't get it to work. I went pretty slow but was def getting miserable by around the 15 minute mark. I ended up getting a little blister on my left ankle from where it rubbed against my sock/shoe.

I discovered today that my new gym has a GHD. I had some trouble getting it set up properly. I had it set up in one way that made it extremely difficult to do one rep and caused me to feel a painful burn in my hams during the leg curl part of the movement. Then I set it another way where that part was way too easy. I'll goof around with it more next time.

Upper back tweak was pretty bothersome today, especially during bike and planks (ironically, not during upper/mid back exercise).

Saturday, December 1, 2018 Training
BBM Heavy Light Medium W1D3

Deadlift: 110x5, 120x5 @7, 127.5x5 [PR] @9, 120x5 @7.5

CG Bench Press: 57.5x4, 62.5x4 @7, 65x4 @8.5

Beltless Squat: 90x4, 100x4, 105x4 @7, 107.5x4 @7.5

***

Pretty strong showing today. Program called for working up to deadlift @8 set, then one repeat set, and up to one @9 set for bench and squat. My expectation for deadlift was that it would be 122.5 if the day was average, 125 across for a good day, and 127.5 across for a great day, but given how inconsistent my DL performance has been lately, I'd have been pretty happy with any of those outcomes.

I've been trying to bring back mixed grip. Ideally I'd like to be holding on to my deadlifts until/including the top set, then strapping up from there. Today I only strapped the 127.5 set. I overshot the RPE slightly, but I think 127.5 across was there based on the ease of both 120 sets, and that going from mixed to straps for a top set was a bit jarring. It's a decent PR. My best 5-rep set was 125 a month ago, but it was @10. So I added 2.5, subtracted an RPE point, and also added the bar weight difference (1-2kg). Good stuff in any case.

I didn't know what to expect from bench and squat, as I haven't gone heavy on these variations pretty much ever. Ended up being pretty conservative. I was happy with 65x4 on bench and thrilled with 107.5x4 squat. Squat top set felt like @8.5 but video indicates @7.5 at most. I almost tweaked the program because just doing beltless squat seemed kind of boring, but now I'm glad I kept it in. It's a subtle way to improve my weakest point (depth / the hole) without needing a ton of weight and it's way more specific than a pause or tempo squat.