renton, u look leaner and healthier. gj!

Thanks bro

Sunday, November 27, 2016 Training

Bench Press:

20x10
30x5
40x3
50x2x2
57.5x4 (weak setup)
57.5x5
57.5x6 [rep PR]
51x9

Machine Chest Fly 2' rest (#):

120x15
120x15
120x14

LBBS:

20x5x2
40x5
65x2
71x5
71x5
76x5 (side view)
76x5 (oblique view)

DB Bent-over Row 2.5' rest (# each arm):

55x12
55x12
55x14

SS1: Romanian Deadlift (kg)

60x12
60x12
60x12

SS1: Seated DB OHP (#):

25x14
25x14
25x13

***

Solid day. Bench didn't feel as strong as the previous workout but not bad either. I was working in with someone on the squat and misloaded the weight for the first two sets. I was wondering why it felt so easy lol. So I did a fourth set as punishment. I'm pretty optimistic that I'll be able to increase weight on the squat for a while. Depth could always be better but I'm happy with the form overall.

Finally makin' some gains on the accessories. The DB OHP is obv tinyweight but gaining a bunch of reps there makes me hopeful for the upcoming press on Tuesday.

Week 33 Diet, Week 17 Cut



Ugh. First time in 17 weeks that I've actually gained weight. It's too early to change anything but I'll see what the next week looks like. I really don't want to reduce calories below 1400....

Does anyone think my warmup sets are excessive for bench and squat? I'm talking to a smart guy who says he doesn't warm up nearly this much and believes it's a waste of time.

Just did a short workout at home:

Chin-ups (3' rest) (4, 4, 4, 4, 4)


The plan is to add this on Friday and Sunday evenings after I'm done with poker and see if I can make more progress on it.

There are other smart guys that would tell you to warm up more.

I would say your warm up sets/reps are fine. I like to do more with the bar though first set 12-15-even as high as 20. That acts as a stretch out, warm up session for me.

There is real no negative, that I know of, to doing a lot of warming up and the benefit of reduced risk of injury is worthwhile to consider.

The negative aspects of warming up with a lot of sets is the amount of "wasted" time and wearing you out before you even do set 1.

T-Nation article, timely it showed up on my FB feed and its from Dr. Rusin my new PT if and when I need one.

The Most Intelligent Way to Warm Up

Nuc, I think I should have used "correctly warmup with more sets". If so, I don't think you are wasting time or wearing out in advance of your work sets.

This is particularly true, imo, if you lift heavy.

This is much more extensive than what I do, and the explosive single at heavier-than-workset weight is something I've never heard of anyone doing. Pretty interesting, though.

I bike about 4.5km to the gym so I'm already pretty warm by the time I arrive. My warmup consists of the displayed sets in gray in addition to some mobility exercises. For bench I do probably 40-50 total reps of band pull-aparts at three different angles of shoulder flexion along with a couple of stretches. For squat I do a few of the old magnificent mobility exercises. Each takes like 5 min. So it takes me about 10-15 minutes to warmup and ramp-up for each movement.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016 Training

Press:

20x5x2
27.5x2
31x2
36x5 @10
36x5 @10
36x5
31x7

Deadlift:

60x3x3
75x2x2
90x1x2
100x5
90x7

DB Incline Press 2' (#):

30x12
30x12
30x12

Chin-ups 3' (5, 5, 5, 5) [+1 rep]

***

Can't every day be a winner.

I went into the press wanting to completely obliterate 36 with 6 or 7 reps considering the gains I've been making on bench and how the two lifts are way out of proportion. When the first set was a limit set of 5 I became quickly disabused of those notions. I still can't find a setup that I consistently like with the press. When lockout seemed so hard on the first set, I widened the grip a bit in the second and again in the third. The fact that I managed 3x5 indicates to me that I probably gained some performance in each set. Also, this is technically a substantial PR in total reps, as my next best with 36kg is 4, 5, 3. I'm at least happy that I get to load a higher weight for the press next week for the first time in ages.

Deadlifts were failtastic. I don't hate my form, other than the neck thing WHICH I DID A-****ING-GAIN despite my best efforts. Focusing on not doing it in the 90kg set worked out a little better. Just a weak day, not gonna sweat it too hard.

- 5 x bar (1 plate for deads)
- 4 x 40%
- 3 x 60%
- 2 x 80%
- worksets

4lyfe imo ainec re;warmup for big4

That's basically where I'm at, though I occasionally repeat the heavier ramp up sets when I'm working to correct a flaw in my form.

Yeah, it's probably more than sufficient for all but true olds. And really, really strong dudes, for whom the jump from the bar alone to 40% might be too big.

Actually now I think about it, for deads I usually do even less; 5 x 1 plate -> 3 x 2 plates -> 1 x 3 plates -> workset(s). Seems to work just fine.

Thursday, December 1, 2016 Training

Bench Press:

20x10
30x5
40x4
50x2
57.5x5 @8.5 (weight misload)
59x4 @9.5
59x4 @9.5
52.5x9 [PR]

LBBS:

20x5x2
40x5
65x2
77.5x5
77.5x5
77.5x5

SS1 Pull-ups: (5 [PR], 4, 4, 4)

SS1 Rope Triceps Pushdown (# each arm):

35x15
35x15
35x15
35x15

SS2 Leg Press (kg + sled):

125x12
125x12
125x13

SS2 Facepull (#):

75x17
75x17
75x20

***

I slept very poorly last night, waking up 3 hours early. I felt tired and cranky the whole time in the gym today so under the circumstances, I'm very happy with the results. Bench 59x5 was there if I had tighter form. Squats were very hard today because of being tired, but also because someone broke the mirror in front of the squat rack. I'd prefer the mirror weren't there, but I've been squatting in front of it for so long that the lack of a mirror threw me off a lot.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Chin-ups 3': (5, 5, 5, 4, 4)

Sunday, December 5, 2016

Bench Press:

20x10
30x5
40x3
50x2
59x4
59x3
59x3
52.5x7

LBBS:

20x5x2
40x5
60x2
70x1
79x5
79x5
79x5

SS1: DB Bent-over Row (# each arm):

55x12
55x13
55x14

SS2: Machine Chest Fly (#):

120x15
120x15
120x15
120x15

SS2: Romanian Deadlift (kg)

65x12
65x12
65x12

SS2: Seated DB OHP (#):

30x12
30x12
30x11

***

Another gym day that I slept poorly the night before. I felt pretty good going in, but strength just wasn't there for the bench press. I'll give 59 one more try before I reset.


Much Later:

Chin-ups 3': (4, 4, 4, 4, 4)



Week 34 Diet, Week 18 Cut



Looks like a legit stall in weight loss. I haven't had a weigh-in under 139.2 in three weeks now. My plan is a ~1700 calorie maintenance week, then back to 1400 calories until I go 3 consecutive workouts without making progress on the main lifts. Then I'm going to drop to 1200 calories, probably de-load for a week, and plow through the rest of this cut.

Pretty disappointing 6 weeks, I only lost 3.7 lb.

Dude, you look pretty good in the vids now....what's the ultimate goal for weight loss here? Also how tall are you?

5'5". I'll take new pictures soon, so we can all be the judge of where I am and where I need to be. I'm still not under 20% IMO. Ultimate goal is ~15%.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Press:

20x5x2
27.5x3
32.5x2
37.5x4
37.5x3
37.5x2
32.5x7

Deadlift:

60x3x2
75x3
90x1x2
102.5x7 [PR]
92.5x8

DB Incline Press 2' (#):

30x14
30x14
30x14 [+3 total reps]

Chin-ups 3' (6, 5, 5, 5) [+1 rep]

***

Holy ****. For deadlift I expected to get 5, wanted to get 6 for a PR, and ended up getting 7. Probably with a slow 8th in the tank. It's a huge PR that definitely took most of the sting out of my piss-poor OHP performance.

For the press, I think I'm going to program the resets and increases differently. It's just such a slow lift to progress on and I only do it once weekly. I'm going to lift the same weight every week until I hit 6 reps for one of the sets before I try to increase it, and do away with resetting entirely.

Oh also, I weighed in at 138.0 yesterday so the weight loss stall is over. Yay. All things not-my-press are going well.

[QUOTE=Renton555;51286225]Thursday, December 8, 2016 Training

Bench Press:

20x10
30x5
40x4
50x2
59x5 [PR]
59x4
59x3
52.5x11 [PR]

LBBS:

20x5x2
40x5
60x2
70x1
80x5
80x5
80x5

SS1 Pull-ups: (6 [PR], 5, 4, 4) [+2 reps]

SS1 Rope Triceps Pushdown (# each arm):

35x16
35x15
35x13
35x15

SS2 Leg Extension* (#):

100x12
110x12
120x12

SS2 Facepull (#):

85x15
85x15
85x15

***

Pretty great day. Bench pressing was awkward today because my gym threw away all the yoga mats. I use a yoga mat on the bench to prevent my back from slipping. Needless to say, this made it much harder to stay tight and is IMO the main reason why I didn't get 5 for all of the sets. The third set there was def a 4th but I had completely lost my tightness so I racked it and saved my energy for the 52.5 set (which I then crushed for a big PR).

Squats were disappointingly difficult, with a couple of shallow reps. I think the second set looks pretty good, though.

* The leg press was ****ed up today so I did some leg extensions. I'd have done something more productive instead but I was tired and my session was already getting way too long.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Chin-ups 3': (5, 5, 4, 5, 4)

I haven't gone full nit on your dead, but it looks like you tend to jerk it off the floor a little.

Coincidentally, this was recently posted on the SS channel.

Thanks. Deadlift is by far my best lift but I still have a lot to work on with it. The most annoying thing right now is that I can't seem to exert max force without hyperextending my neck. I can focus on not doing it on the easy reps but it still happens involuntarily when the weight gets heavy.

According to Nuckols deadlift guide looking up is not nearly as big of a problem as many people make it out to be. He says the risk is tiny and the worst you're gonna get is a minor neck strain.