Saturday, May 6, 2017 Training
Overhead Variant, C3W2 TM45 4x8 @70%

1. Press (kg):

10x10x2
20x5x2
25x3
31x8
31x8
31x8
31x10 @10

2. Paused CGBP (kg):

20x8
30x4
40x2
50x7
50x7
50x7
50x7

2. Chin-ups (@57kg)

+10lb x7
+10lb x7
+10lb x6
+10lb x6 @9.5

3. DB Incline Press* (#):

35x12
35x11
35x8

3. Cable Face-pull (#, leverage):

65x18
65x18
65x18

3. Cable Laterals (#, leverage):

15x11
15x10
15x9

***

More technique work on my press. A few objectives:

1) To get the bar as deep in my palm as possible while still being able to safely hold onto it with a thumbless grip.

2) To continue to zero in on an optimal grip width. It seems like perfectly vertical forearms (when viewed from the front) isn't the best for me and a slightly narrower grip works better.

3) To rack the bar higher at the bottom of each rep, basically "hovering" a couple of inches off my clavicle.

4) To lean back enough at the bottom to facilitate as vertical a bar path as possible.

I think that I made a lot of improvement on the 1) 2) and 3) fronts, and not so much on the 4). As for performance, going from 8,8,8,12 @28.75kg in the last cycle to 8,8,8,10 @31.25 is probably minor gains but nothing to write home about.

Per the discussion, I tried dumbbell incline with a slower tempo instead of increasing to the 40s like I'd planned. I think it turned out pretty well except that I made the mistake of moving cable laterals to press day. The overlap between these exercises caused me to perform worse at both.

Nothing else major to add. Bench press was pretty easy and I made big gains on chin-ups.

Sunday, May 7, 2017 Training
Deadlift Variant, C3W2 TM136 4x6 @70%

1. 6cm Block Pulls (kg):

20x10 good morning
20x10 rdl
40x8 rdl
60x4
80x2x2
95x6 side view
95x6 front view
95x6
95x8

2. Paused HBBS (kg):

20x10
40x5
60x2
72.5x7
72.5x7 depth view
72.5x7

2. Hanging Leg Raise:

17
17
17

3. Good Morning (kg):

55x9
55x9
55x9

3. Machine Seated Row (#):

115x12
115x12
115x12

***

Block pulls are improving IMO. I probably had a lot more in the top set but the bar rolled off the blocks after the third rep and it kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Forearm pain report:

The seated rows definitely do not aggravate my forearm. I do them with a neutral grip. It's basically a lat pulldown machine that has separate pulling handles for doing a seated row. It's probably the exercise that most isolates my lats, so I'm happy to keep it around. For that matter, nothing I did today aggravated my forearm pain.

I'm certain now that it has nothing to do with grip, because the pain was actually worse at home before I went to the gym than it was when I was finished with my work. On the other hand, the pain gradually flared up during my press day yesterday and was pretty noticeable for the entire subsequent day leading into this workout.

I'm thinking that the pain was caused by the straight bar cable curls, and is now being aggravated by any pushing exercise that puts my forearm in internal rotation, i.e. an overhead press or dumbbell press. Possibly the chinups are also contributing, but the t-bar and machine rows that I do with a neutral grip are fine.

So I could make some adjustments. First, I could wrap my wrists for bench/ohp and heavy dumbbell work. The powerlifting bro at my gym bought me some wrist wraps as a gift but I've been avoiding using them unless I absolutely need them. Wrapping my wrists for a 30kg press just seems pretty ugh. Second, is I could switch to neutral grip chin-ups, but I think that's a little premature since I don't yet have confirming evidence that chin-ups are hurting me. Otherwise, just ditch the curls and hope the pain goes away on its own, which I'm already doing.

Week 56 Diet
Maintenance Phase Week 2



A pretty decent, stable week. Five of the weigh-ins for this week were 125.2 so it looks like 1800 is probably pretty close to my maintenance calories. I'll finish this mesocycle at ~1800 calories ~140 protein, see where I am, and most likely increase to 2000-2100 after that.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Chin-ups / Push-ups / 90s rest:

4, 12
5, 14
6, 16
7, 18
7, 18 (added to last week's sets)
6, 16
5, 14
4, 12

Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Training
Bench Variant, C3W3 TM76 5x7 @72.5%

1. Close-Grip Bench (kg):

20x10
35x5
50x2
55x7
55x7
55x7
55x7
55x9 @10

2. T-Bar Row (kg):

42.5x8
55x8
55x8
55x8
55x8

2. Arnold Press (#):

25x16
25x16
25x16
25x16

3. Push-ups:

19
19
19
19

3. Chin-ups (@57kg):

8
8
7
7

3. DB Laterals (#):

15x12
15x12
15x12
15x12

***

Another solid bench day. Could probably have hit 10 in the top set if my form was tighter. I'm looking forward to benching bodyweight for 6x6 next week.

T-bar rows seem at least a bit better, and doing them like this really lowered the amount of weight and reps that I could do.

Forearm postscript. I had a little pain in the morning before training. Nothing that I did today made it worse. Feels fine now after the session.

Your back angle is definitely better. It looks like you've maybe got a bit of over-arching going on from this angle at least and I think that comes from the setup of standing up and then hinging down like you're doing.

Also try not to let the slack out and round your back when you're putting it down. Keep a tight upright back but in the bottom position and squat the weight down in the same manner you lifted it up.

RE: your forearm pain in curls.

Try a wider grip with an actual bar. Put your hands at your sides straight down and then turn your palms to face forward. Notice how everything naturally rotates outward and away from the body and the distance between your hands has increased? Use that grip width.


*I did a random barbell curl in the squat rack tonight using that setup I learned long ago. It was between sets of a goblet squat.

Thanks, will do. As for the hinging down, it's probably the simplest way for me to be sure I'm doing them without a rounded back. Do you recommend a different setup method?

I may try a wider grip. Right now I'm just doing dumbbell hammer curls one day a week. I should probably add some curls on another day but it's just not a priority for me, so risking injury for that seems ludicrous. I'll wait until the forearm thing heals, then consider the above.


Thursday, May 11, 2017 Training
Squat Variant, C3W3 TM117 5x7 @72.5%

1. HBBS (kg):

20x8
40x5
60x3
72.5x2
85x7
85x7
85x7
85x7
85x11

2. Romanian Deadlift (kg):

72.5x9
72.5x9
72.5x9
72.5x9

2. Cable Straight-Back Crunch (#, leverage):

100x18
100x18
100x18
100x18

3. Leg Press (kg):

155x9
155x9
155x9

3. DB Hammer Curl (#):

20x14
20x13
20x14

***

I went into this one not feeling sore at all, so my expectations were high. I discovered something interesting about squat mindset. If you are going for a set of 7, your mind is going to make that 7th rep hard even if it shouldn't be. These all felt like pretty tough sets, but when the 4th set felt pretty good, I decided that I was going to get 10 reps for the last set. Then I got 11. And the bar speed was fast on the 11th rep, so probably I had a lot more.

High bar for 85x11 is definitely a PR for any kind of squat, but I'm hesitant to even make note of PRs with this program; the AMRAP set is always in a state of fatigue after having done X number of hard sets already, so my actual max effort set will always be a few more reps than this.

Nice work and nice PR. A PR is a PR imo, who says it has to be a max/fresh effort to count?

Yeah, this! Tracking rep prs is huge as a novice because you should max out a single very infrequently if at all, so it helps motivation.

I didn't mean that it doesn't count, but kinda the opposite. It's more like it will always be an understatement for what I could actually do if I were going for a max set instead of stacking up volume. I'd rather just compare the same weeks in subsequent cycles to be assured that I'm progressing.

Saturday, May 13, 2017 Training
Overhead Variant, C3W3 TM45 5x7 @72.5%

1. Press (kg):

10x10x2
20x5x2
27.5x3
32.5x7
32.5x7
32.5x7
32.5x7
32.5x10 @9.5

2. Paused CGBP (kg):

20x8
35x3
45x1
52.5x6
52.5x6
52.5x6
52.5x6 @8

2. Chin-ups (@57kg)

+15lb x6
+15lb x6
+15lb x6
+15lb x6 @9.5

3. DB Incline Press (#):

40x8
40x8
40x7

3. Cable Face-pull (#, leverage):

55x24
55x24
55x24

3. DB External Rotations (#):

10x11
10x10
10x7

***

Finally, I get some real press gains. I think my form is much improved. Wrists are still pretty cocked back, but man it seems unavoidable. Maybe I should just wrap my wrists for the press from now on.

Bench was easy. I think it's time for less-timid weight increases on that. More gains on chins as well. I programmed four sets of the tier 3 work, but when I misgrooved the last rep of DB incline and only had 7 reps of rotator cuff prehab, I decided it was prudent to call it a session at that point.

Sunday, May 14, 2017 Training
Deadlift Variant, C3W3 TM136 5x5 @72.5%

1. 6cm Block Pulls (kg):

20x10 good morning
20x10 rdl
40x8 rdl
60x4
80x2
90x2
100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5 (front)
100x8 @8? (side)

2. Paused HBBS (kg):

20x8
40x4
60x2
70x1
77.5x6
77.5x6
77.5x6
77.5x6

2. Hanging Leg Raise:

17
17
17
17

3. Good Morning (kg):

57.5x8
57.5x8
57.5x8

3. Machine Seated Row (#):

130x9
130x9
130x9

***

Fun day. I'm pretty happy with the pulls. Since things have been going so well in general, I slapped an extra 2.5kg on the bar for squats than I'd planned, and managed to grind through those sets reasonably well. I'd like to narrow the gap between the weight that I'm using for paused work compared to the primary squat day because I believe that will result in more carryover. Probably means doing fewer reps. Next week, I'll do 80 for 5's and see how that goes.

, impressive WIM

Lol at that belt tail on the HBBS video. Time to get a smaller size.

Thanks. I actually had to have some new holes drilled into the belt. I have some velcro to put on it so the tail doesn't hang, but I keep forgetting to apply it. It's a good belt, and good belts aren't available in Cambodia so I'm inclined to keep it around.


Week 57 Diet
Maintenance Phase Week 3



Protein is improved. I'm generally getting around 4-5 leucine-threshold (25-35g protein) meals per day. Not sure I entirely believe in that broscience, but it agrees with my desired eating schedule so w/e. Def a few nutritional missteps were made this week (I was aiming for 1800 calories, not 1900). I weighed in this morning at 124.2 lb / 56.3 kg, so weight is definitely being maintained, and it's even possible that I'm still leaning out a bit.

I'm pretty sure leucine threshold for MPS is science science. The other factor is spacing them by 3-5 hours.

Just weighed in at 123.2 this morning. 123.2 with carbs is def leaner than 123.0 depleted, so it looks like I'm still losing some weight.

Is it really worthwhile to pay attention to something like the leucine content?

While I know its the most important of the BCAA's and all that jazz I just have to wonder if it really isn't just FPSy to the max.

No, all that's necessary is to adjust a little for the fact that some sources of protein are a bit more rich in leucine than others (whey > beef > other meats > vegetable sources). A plant-based meal may need to have ~25% more protein to match the leucine levels of an equivalent whey shake.

Renton, why are you living in Cambodia, how long have you been there, do you enjoy it and do you eat the local cuisine often?

TYIA

I've been a professional poker player since 2006. I moved from the U.S. to Thailand after Black Friday in 2011. In 2013, I moved to Cambodia to play a 5/10 cash game that ran here, met my current girlfriend (who is Khmer), and just kind of settled here. I continue to play live poker for a living, and she runs a small bar that earns us a little.

I do enjoy it, though I enjoyed Thailand a bit more. Cambodia is more of a third world country with a less-stable regime and less-developed market economy. The cost of living is in many ways quite high despite it being such a poor country. A lot of good things about it too, though. More English is spoken than in Thailand. They have legal gambling. There's higher quality western food here.

As for the local cuisine, it's kind of undeveloped. The genocide really did a number on all aspects of Khmer culture and they kind of had to start over from scratch on things like music and cuisine. I don't eat much Khmer food, though there are a few dishes that I like. Amok is a fish curry that's quite nice. There is, however, a ton of great Vietnamese food here that I enjoy the **** out of.

Wow how very interesting. Black Friday changed a lot of lives. You're lucky to have someone to establish a home with and I think she is quite lucky as well.

Are your videos from a local gym? Gym seems modern for less developed country.

Also you are SO SLIM.

There are two people on this forum who have seen my poker game, tucoramirez and Renton.

I don't recall renton's game, this was like 8 years ago. But I do recall he was annoying and I looked at his stats in every position and every street looking for leaks and there is a 100% chance I went off on him on at least one rant on chat.

Lul'd