Whats going on with the casino boom over there?

It's standard games like malaysia? Which means tons of baccarat. The poker is chump change low stakes?

Squats are high. And low/mid back does not look very stable. Maybe do paused squats for couple of sessions to get reaccustomed to how all the positions feel.

Hbbs or lbbs?

The town I'm in (Sihanoukville) is experiencing a huge influx of Chinese money. Casinos are going up all over, and there were at one point around 12 competing poker rooms in town. That has since whittled down to 4-5. There are 1/1, 1/2, 2/5, 5/10, and 10/20 games (USD). It's hard to predict how things will be in a year, but it will most likely be entirely a Chinese city by then.

These are low bar. Traditionally I find low bar to be more comfortable for my back and high bar more comfortable for my shoulders and wrists. I have struggled with depth since the start. I'm not going to sweat depth too much at this point but thanks for the comment.

The 10-20 games only go on the weekend? Seems like that would be a good game.

They go every day but it's not as good as it sounds. Rake is outrageous and a lot of these games are just groups of shareholders softplaying each other. The low to mid stakes scene here is a lot better.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5 x2, 39x5, 54x5, 64x5 x3

Press (kg): 19x10, 29x5, 34x5 x3

Chin-up (@65kg): 6, 6, 5

***

Decent day. Nothing was very hard. I may be starting too conservatively on squats but I will get to heavy weights soon. Back feels fine. I did discover today that this gym doesn't have plates smaller than 2.5kg. I have my own small weights to load 1.25kg increments, but not larger ones for loading 2.5. I weighed the bars at 19kg.

Bit of butt wink going on there...
Also, is someone doing live karaoke or something? The singing on that track sounds off!

Thursday, July 19, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x2, 69x5 x3

CGBP (kg): 18x10, 38x5, 48x2, 53x2, 53x3, 48x5, 48x5

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 74x5, 89x5

***

Meh. Bench press was pretty disappointing. The first 53 set just wasn't going very well so I decided to give it another go. Form was better in the 53x3, just no strength there. Still haven't worked out how to load 2.5kg increments.

Saturday, July 21, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x2, 69x2, 74x5, 74x5, 74x5

Press (kg): 18x10, 29x5, 35x5 x3

Chin-up (@64kg): 6, 6, 6

***

Decent. The second squat set got a little hairy but I think I am good for another 5kg jump. I will continue to go beltless on squats as I think it will be easier to "feel" my back. Also it will limit the weight I can use which might not be a bad thing at this stage. I gained a rep on chins.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x4, 69x2 79x5, 79x3, 79x4

CGBP (kg): 18x10, 38x5, 48x2, 53x3 x4, 53x4

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 80x3, 89x4

***

Rough day. It was hard to hit depth squatting and I was pretty weak all around. I couldnt load 2.5 increments on bench so I decided to do 5x3 which went reasonably well. Deadlifts were terrible. I think I am going to start using straps because it seems like I cant get a good pull from the floor with mixed grip.

On the bright side, my back and knees feel great.

Typo last post, the deadlift set was 94x4, not 89x4. Still very weak.


Thursday, July 26, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 18x5, 38x5, 58x5, 68x2, 78x5 x3

Press (kg): 19x10, 29x5, 34x2, 39x3 x4, 39x1f

***

Pretty good day. I was a lot stronger on squats. Still no 2.5 increments so added 5kg to the press, attempted 5 sets of 3, and got 4. The gym was crowded and it took longer than anticipated to squat and press, so I had to cut it there and head to work.

Sunday, July 29, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x4, 74x2, 84x5, 84x4, 84x4

CGBP (kg): 18x10, 29x5, 38x5, 48x2, 53x2, 53x3, 53x4, 53x4

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 79x5, 94x5

***

I tried a late night gym session, and it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. I am pretty happy with squats. The depth was above average, and even though I didnt get 3x5, its to be expected with a 5kg jump. Still pretty weak but keep in mind that this is no belt no sleeves so prob equivalent to around 100kg.

Bench is somewhat improved. I had trouble staying tight against this ****ty, segmented bench, but the sets got better each time, and I widened the grip slightly.

Grip is the limiting factor for deads. I forgot my straps and didnt want to use the mixed grip. I am quite sure I will be good for more progression once the straps are brought in.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x3, 79x2, 89x3, 89x1, 79x5, 79x5

Press (kg): 19x10, 29x5, 34x6, 34x6, 34x8

Chin-up (65kg): 7, 6, 5

***

Another late night one, this time at 4 AM. I doubt I was performing at 100% 14 hours into my waking day, but there are a ton of advantages to this. The gym is deserted, I am not rushed in any way and can just do my thing.

The plan for squats was to add 5kg and go for 5 sets of 3 but the first set was a little too hard and I got forward on the first rep of the second set. Then I took some weight off and tried to focus on leaning forward more, staying over mid foot, and descending more slowly.

Press weight was too light probably. I need to go find some 1kg weights so I can load 2.5 increments for the press.

Friday, August 3, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x3, 79x2, 84x5 x3

CGBP (kg): 18x10, 28x5, 38x5, 48x2, 48x5, 53x5 x3

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 79x3, 89x2, 99x5

***

Probably the best workout since I started back training. I gained loads of reps on squat and bench. Deadlifts, as expected, were much easier and safer with straps. Might be some spinal flexion but my back felt/feels fine.

Monday, August 6, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x3, 79x2, 84x1, 89x3 x5

Press (kg): 19x10, 29x5, 34x3, 39x3 x5

Chin-up (66kg): 7, 6, 6, 4

***

Another good day. My back feels great and I am making gains everywhere. Press was a bit harder than I hoped, as I barely got 5x3. My weight is getting a little out of hand but right now I am just trying to make it to the gym and make reasonable food choices.

Squats look good . . . Maybe a bit deeper than normal?

Why are you not logging your weight?

Thanks. Yes, it was an above average day for squat depth.

I step on the scale daily to keep an eye on it. I could log it but I am under too much stress right now to track calorie intake or try a cut. I takes all the willpower I have to make it to the gym 2.5 times per week average. It is far more motivating to train at a calorie non-deficit, and motivation is in short supply for me right now.

Thursday, August 9, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x3, 79x2, 94x3 @9, 84x5, 84x4 @9

CGBP (kg): 19x10, 39x5, 49x3, 54x3, 59x2 @9, 59x3 @9.5, 54x5 x2

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 79x3, 94x2, 104x5

***

Pretty lackluster workout. The gym was swarmed with Chinese bros so I was distracted during most of the sets. Funny ego boost at the end, though. As I was getting ready to pull the 104 set, two Chinese bros each tried to lift it and couldn't, after which they proceeded to get on each end of the barbell and lift it together. Then I casually pulled it for a set of fahve. Not that it's an impressive weight, but most casual gym goers don't lift heavier than their 15RM.

Bit of a life update:

The poker room that I moved towns to work in has closed. I am a month into a six month lease on my overpriced new apartment that my dumbass girlfriend bought a refrigerator for, so I'm a bit too stubborn to return to Phnom Penh. I'm back to being a pro poker player, at least for the foreseeable future, and the games in town are pretty decent and should be getting better and better as we emerge from low season.

This town (Sihanoukville) will be the largest gambling destination in the Eastern Hemisphere in two years. Or it will be an enormous bubble. Thirty casinos have been built in the last year or so and there are 70 more under construction. Nearly everything is being plowed over and replaced by a casino or housing for the new Chinese residents. The town is, for all purposes that matter, Chinese. It is hard to express how terrible this place is for anything other than gambling. The ocean is polluted, the roads are riddled with craters, everything is overpriced and nothing caters to Westerners or even Khmers at this point. And it rains for 8+ hours a day during wet season.

Since the poker room closed I've felt a little relief but I immediately fell ill which resulted in a lapse in lifting. Then two days ago I had a spill on my motorbike while negotiating one of those aforementioned potholes. I banged my knee pretty bad and scraped my hands, so there was another two days of no lifting. Tonight, I went in the gym and had so little motivation to train that I almost walked out without starting.

As I was warming up to squat, I had some low back pain on the first rep of 70kg which scared the **** out of me. I rested a minute and did 70x5 and 75x5 with no pain, then some Chinese bros started taking plates off my bar when I was resting between sets. Then it occurred to me that the normally deserted part of the gym was swarming with Chinese bros at 12:30am and I just lost all motivation to continue the workout.

I have time to train now, so now I just need motivation and proper planning. I'm gonna solve my loading increment problem first. Maybe bring my food scale to a hardware store and see if I can find circular objects that weigh <0.5kg i.e. large washers or pipe fittings. Then, I'm going to do an actual LP, hopefully this time with quotation marks unnecessary. I think I'll continue to train the squat beltless until I get to 100kgx5, then with the belt and sleeves I might be in for some PRs (107.5x5x3 was my pre-injury best).

I'm going to do Rippetoe's actual "program," which includes being a fat person. I really can't be bothered with worrying about my weight right now when it's taking all I've got to even show up to the gym.

Sunday, August 19, 2018 Training

Bench Press (kg): 20.5x10, 40.5x5, 50.5x5 x2, 50.5x8

Squat (kg): 19x5, 39x5, 59x5, 74x2, 84x2, 84x4, 79x5

Deadlift (kg): 59x5, 79x3, 89x2, 99x5

***

Finally made it to the gym after a lapse. I chose my bench press weight well and my squat/dl weights poorly. I just couldn't get a rhythm going on squats. I was probably capable of grinding out 84x5x3 if my form and setup had been on point. I'm considering adding the belt and sleeves early; there's some nocebo happening since I had the tiny back tweak during that warmup set last workout.

Deadlift might have been fine but a gym staff got on my case for dropping weights and I was self conscious about my noise from then on. The 99 set was way harder than it should have been.

My biggest weakness right now is nutrition. I no longer have free food and grocery options suck here. I'm probably going to have to overpay for whey and supplement a lot to hit decent protein marks.

In rare good news, Team Renton now has micro-plates!



One of my friends is leaving town so I bought her adjustable dumbbell set. As it doesn't use Olympic plates, I had to ghetto rig keychains to fix them to the barbell. They don't wobble as long as they're placed next to a plate. There are four 0.5kg and two 1.25kg. That the 1.25s aren't 1s and the 0.5s not 0.625s deeply offends my OCD sensibilities, but I'll cope.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018 Training

Squat w/belt (kg): 20x5, 40x5, 60x5, 70x3, 80x2, 90x5 x3

Press (kg): 20x10, 30x5, 35x5 x3

Chin-up (65kg): 0x6 x4

***

Back to daytime training. I'll have to deal with more performance autistry from the Chinese bros, but it better fits my new schedule and I definitely have better performance early in the day. Today's GGO was a Khmer trainer doing a session with one of the hottest Chinese women I've ever seen. Their prime movement was something I'd never seen before: hip thrusts using the leg curl machine.

As expected, I got quite a bit out of the belt and sleeves. The other day I couldn't do 84x5 beltless. The 90 sets took some effort (for ExpectedV reference, I believe the last set was about RPE 7.5 at most, even though it felt like a ton of effort during the set), but I think there is a decent amount of room to increase the weight from here.

RPEv 12

Friday, August 24, 2018 Training

Squat (kg): 20x5, 40x5, 60x5, 80x3, 90x1, 97.5x1, 92.5x5 x3

Bench Press (kg): 20x10, 40x5, 50x2, 57.5x1 @meh, 52.5x5, 52.5x5, 52.5x7 @9.5

Deadlift (kg): 60x5, 80x3, 92.5x2, 102.5x1, 104xf, 95x5

***

This was a decent day and the first time in a while that I have had a workout that fell within 48 hours of the previous workout. I decided to add a single preceding my squat and bench work sets, both to add a little volume and to get accustomed to heavier weights before they become work set weights. Especially for the squat, for which unracking and holding the weight securely without trashing my shoulders is half the battle.

The squat single went very well, possibly even lighter than a 5rm, and so did the work sets which felt like as much effort as 90 did last session. The bench single was gross, and after a tough first set, I widened my grip a bit, to ring fingers on rings, which made big positive difference in the other sets. It appears that I can tolerate a wider grip than in the past, perhaps an effect of training reverse grip for so long.

Deadlifts were kind of a disaster, though. My micro plate keychains snapped after the first rep of the work set, which was a huge distraction. When 104 felt like absolute **** and I could barely break the weight off the floor, I decided to do a set at 95 and call it. I don't know if squatting just trashes me for any subsequent deadlift work or I just have a really inefficient body for conventional pulling. Probably a little of both.



(other vids still uploading and will be posted later)