Sets of faahve

Mr. CooL ICE

November 22

Spent 4.5 hours in the car yesterday and weather meant no walking at all. Felt it this morning.

Deadlift:
20kg x 5 (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 3
140kg x 5
140kg x 4
140kg x 5
140kg x 3

120s rest between sets. Had planned on doing 4x6 @ 140kg beltless but my form felt off. First rep always felt easy but everything afterwards felt sloppy and laboured. Perhaps I'm relying on my belt to keep tight more than I thought. Lower back felt kinda achey so I walked away annoyed.

SSB squat:
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3

90s rest. These were grand. I've no idea what my depth in these is like. Need to record them some time.

DB walking lunges:
12.5kgs each leg x 8
17.5kgs each leg x 8
17.5kgs each leg x 8
17.5kgs each leg x 8
17.5kgs each leg x 8
17.5kgs each leg x 8

60s rest. +weight, -reps. Tiring, but grand. Lower reps obviously helped.

Ab wheel rollouts:
x 8
x 8
x 8
x 8
x 8
x 8

45s rest. Grand.

Mildly frustrating day, but I still learned a few things.

Alf Veedersane

Dole Scrounging Vegan Crossfitter wrote: »

First rep always felt easy but everything afterwards felt sloppy and laboured. Perhaps I'm relying on my belt to keep tight more than I thought

I've a similar problem. In my instance it's because I dont control the bar enough on the way down and I'm ending up way out of position and having to get that correct starting position again and just not getting there unless I reset.

Mr. CooL ICE

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I've a similar problem. In my instance it's because I dont control the bar enough on the way down and I'm ending up way out of position and having to get that correct starting position again and just not getting there unless I reset.

Interesting. Never thought of that. I only recorded my last warmup and plates are in the way so I can't see the bar position. But I'll add that to the list of things to check if things don't feel right.

Alf Veedersane

Dole Scrounging Vegan Crossfitter wrote: »

Interesting. Never thought of that. I only recorded my last warmup and plates are in the way so I can't see the bar position. But I'll add that to the list of things to check if things don't feel right.

In my case, I'm just flopping down with the bar as opposed to reversing the movement. So I'm at the bar having to find that start position again.

And when I've gone down that road, i invariably find reps 2+ feel different and more in my lower back.

Not so when I reverse the movement.

Mr. CooL ICE

November 23

Got a 3.5km walk in last night. Was still stiff this morning, especially around the glutes.

Seal row:
40kg x 8
50kg x 12
50kg x 12
50kg x 12
50kg x 12

60s rest. No pendlays today because although my back was fine, I was a little wary of yesterday's soreness. Precautionary.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 15
40kg x 10
60kg x 10
70kg x 3
75kg x 10
75kg x 10
75kg x 10
75kg x 6

90s rest, calibrated plates. Plan was 4x10 @75kg. 3rd set was a grind and had no steam left for the last set.

CG incline bench:
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
65kg x 5
65kg x 5
65kg x 5
65kg x 5
65kg x 5

60s rest. 2nd and 3rd sets were a grind and instead of thinking "stupid incline, I hate incline", I copped that my cues were non existant. I had been trying to just push the bar away from me in whatever manner worked. Instead, I used the same approach to flat bench in that I'm trying to move the bar up along my body and voila, set 4 and 5 were a breeze. Maybe incline doesn't suck after all and I was the one that sucked.

Pullup:
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5

30s rest. Still sloppy at the end.

Lat pulldown:
59kg plate x 12
59kg plate x 12
59kg plate x 12

60s rest. Huge pump. Walked away with ILS.

DB lateral raise:
5kg x 8
7.5kg x 8
7.5kg x 8
7.5kg x 8
7.5kg x 8
7.5kg x 8

60s rest. For some reason, I stopped doing these a few weeks ago for no reason other than I forgot. Oops.

Facepulls:
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20

60s rest. Grand.

Grand day. Won't lose sleep over the benching. Restricting rest times is a killer for me so I blame that instead of my general strength.

Mr. CooL ICE

November 24

Not quite a training day. My gym is having a Movember event and hoping to raise cash by getting as many people in to lift a combined total of 1,000,000kg. Started doing mobility work but was loose AF. Kinda forget how different the body is at midday compared to first thing in the morning.

I assumed it was just SBD but anything goes as long as it involves a barbell. So that means OHP, barbell curls, rows, hip thrusts etc are game. I just stuck to the basics. Wrote everything down on a card but forgot to take a photo, but it was something like this...

Squat:
20kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10

Subtotal 5,000kg

Bench (tng):
30kg x 10
60kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 12

Subtotal 10,000kg

Deadlift (tng):
100kg x 5
100kg x 10
100kg x 10
100kg x 10
100kg x 10
100kg x 5
100kg x 10
100kg x 10
100kg x 10

Subtotal 18,000kg

My lower back was a little tender by the end of squats. Plus, there was some lightheadedness. Wanted to finish them with a nice round number. Bench was just whatever but also with a round number. Was going to finish deadlifts with 15,000kg for another nice round number but had three rows left on my card so just did another 3x10. Lower back managed to be fine for the start of deadlifts but that could have been belt usage. Got achey again towards the end.

Was good fun. The most non-serious gym session I've ever had. Seeing serious and dedicated powerlifters trying to out-rep each other with barbell curls was a nice change. A certain ex boardsie (who's name we cannot mention!) came along and also just jumped between bench and deadlift. The gym owners dad had benched a combined 30,000kg at some point and was still going when I left. I was just exhausted and my lower back was annoying me so I made a run for it.

Mr. CooL ICE

November 26

Hammies, glutes and quads were achey yesterday, but not in a needing a zimmerframe way. Loosened up pretty quick this morning. Had no plan for this morning because I had no idea what my strength levels were going to be at.

LB squat:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
* belt *
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
120kg x 5

No timed rest, calibrated plates. Had a few heavyish singles in mind as I thought keeping the volume low would be best considering I had lower back pain last week. However, I found my LB groove that had been missing for a long time. Didn't change a whole lot except I widened my stance a little. Decided I'd better make the most of it so did a few sets of fahve. Felt absolutely fine.

Front squat:
70kg x 2
80kg x 2
90kg x 3
100kg x 1

No timed rest, calibrated plates. No plan here. Had been a while since I've tried to go heavy with front squats so wanted to see if 100kg was possible and yeah, twas fine. More in the tank and all. Grand.

Single leg hamstring curl:
17kg plate each leg x5 x3
17kg plate each leg x5 x3
17kg plate each leg x5 x3

No timed rest. Forgot these last week. Great for an oul hamstring pump. Still making sure hammies are healthy.

Farmers walk:
+30kgs length x 6
+30kgs length x 6
+30kgs length x 6

60s rest. Insert puke emoji.

Leg raise:
x 12
x 12
x 12

60s rest. Bleh.

Grand day. Low squat volume overall. Although hamstring has felt fine for a long time, there's still a niggling fear at the back of my mind that it'll go pop mid-squat or something.

Mr. CooL ICE

November 27

3.5km walk last night. No stiffness this morning to speak of.

NG cable row:
59kg plate x 18
71kg plate x 18
71kg plate x 18
71kg plate x 18
71kg plate x 18
71kg plate x 18

60s rest. This was tough.

Bench:
20kg x 10
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
95kg x 2
85kg x 4
85kg x 4
85kg x 4
85kg x 4
85kg x 4

90s rest, calibrated plates. Top set felt really heavy in my hands but moved well. 85s all moved well. Ass rose a couple of times here and there but never two reps in a row. Got a bit of an achey elbow somewhere in the middle.

CG bench:
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6

60s rest, calibrated plates. Was going to do pin presses but achey elbow meant this could be a bad idea. These were fine.

OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 3
50kg x 1
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 2
40kg x 11 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Some absolutely grindy reps at times but managed to lock them all out. Completely misgrooved 2nd rep in last top set and didn't recover. Sooo close. OHP feeling the strongest it ever has.

NG pullup:
x 1
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5

30s rest. No flopping like a fish this week, gladly.

NG pulldown:
53kg plate x 15
53kg plate x 15
53kg plate x 15

60s rest. Mad upper lat pump.

Chest supported DB reverse flyes:
5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10

60s rest. Needed to do more but ran out of time.

Grand day. Can't complain.

Mr. CooL ICE

November 29

Only managed two short walks yesterday, longest being 2k. Weather put a (pun intended) dampener on things. Was quite stiff this morning anyway.

Deadlift:
20kg x 3 (RDL)
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 1
120kg x 1
*belt *
140kg x 1
140kg x 1
150kg x 1
160kg x 1
170kg x 2
160kg x 3
160kg x 3
160kg x 1
160kg x 1
160kg x 1

No times rests, calibrated plates. Sets/reps all over the shop. Form felt off. Wasn't pushing my chest through during setup and couldn't figure out wtf I was doing wrong. Did full resets for every rep (I HAD been dropping bar forward - thanks Alf) for my triples at 160kg. Had more triples in mind but tore a callouse which made things painful. Had a chat with someone who gave my his cues for chest up/locking shoulders which required a totally different approach, so gave it a try for some singles.

Buffalo bar squat:
43kg x 5
63kg x 5
83kg x 8
83kg x 8
103kg x 5
113kg x 3

Just a bit of craic. Felt weird. No idea if I was anywhere near depth or not. Kept slipping on my back and it's probably because I was trying to lowbar squat it, whereas I think it's supposed to take the highbar position. Anyway, won't lose sleep over it.

Single arm carries:
+20kg length x 4
+30kg length x 6

Was running out of time and couldn't do lunges and core work, so did this (which I read about ages ago). Basically, walking while trying to stay upright while carrying loads of shopping. Didn't like it. Which might be a good thing...

Bit of a silly day. Finding it hard to train properly and am getting too easily distracted. Need to focus once christmas passes

Mr. CooL ICE

November 30

3.5km walk last night. Still managed to be stiff this morning. And yesterday's session wasn't even that bad. Weird.

Pendlay row:
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 8
60kg x 8
60kg x 8
60kg x 8
60kg x 8

60s rest. Grand and light. More trying to remain tight and have consistent reps.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 10
40kg x 10
60kg x 10
70kg x 5
75kg x 10
75kg x 10
75kg x 10
75kg x 9

90s rest, calibrated plates. Felt weak from the get go. I only completed 6 reps in my last set last week and I couldn't help to get it out of the back of my mind today and ended up rushing like crazy through 6 sloppy reps. Had properly controlled reps for 7-9 but was goosed. Sooo close.

Pullup:
x 2
x 13 (AMRAP -1)
x 7 (AMRAP -1)
x 6 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Pullup rep PR out of nowhere. Graaand! Dunno what it was before. Possibly 11?

Incline bench:
20kg x 3
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5

60s rest. Supposed to do these before pullups but incline bench wasn't available. Felt sooo heavy. But form felt solid. I'm starting to hate incline less and less.

Lat pulldown:
53kg plate x 15
53kg plate x 15
53kg plate x 15

60s rest. Graaand.

DB lateral raise:
5kgs x 8
10kgs x 8
10kgs x 8
10kgs x 8

60s rest. YOLO'd and went up in weight. Form was a tad sloppy and only managed 3 sets. Oh well.

Facepull:
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20

60s rest. Grand.

Overall a grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 3

Very little movement over the weekend, aside from a 4.3km walk yesterday. Managed to be relatively nimble this morning regardless.

Had been planning on keeping my upper/lower split going until christmas. Had chosen to do this so I could be more productive in an overall volume sense, even if the layout was less than ideal. However, after looking back over logs, my overall volume was less than when I had a more frequency based approach. And my LB form was suffering... If I had a bad LB squat session on Monday, I had to wait another 7 days before I could try to fix what went wrong and that just sucked.

Squat:
20kg x 7
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
* belt *
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3
125kg x 3

90s rest, calibrated plates. One upper back cue I've been missing is externally rotating my arm to get a little extra tightness. When I do it, the rep is easier. Remembering to do it every rep is another thing though. Also, it's usually high rep stuff that leaves me a sweaty, lightheaded mess. But triples did it today.

Bench:
20kg x 10
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
95kg x 3
87.5kg x 3
87.5kg x 3
87.5kg x 3
87.5kg x 3
87.5kg x 3

90s rest, calibrated plates. Top triple was remarkably ok. Think I just zoned out and not overthinking helped. Rest were fine.

NG pullup:
x 2
x 14 (AMRAP)
x 7 (AMRAP)
x 5 (AMRAP)
x 6 (AMRAP)
x 5 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Grunts were, umm, grunted.

Sweaty day. In and out in 1h15. Graaand.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 4

Only a short walk last night. Good bit of doms this morning. Not crippled level but enough to make jumping out of bed to turn off the alarm painful.

Floor press:
20kg x 10
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5

90s rest. Haven't done floor press in ages but remember not being able to rep far beyond 80kg before. Always hated floor press before but I applied the same fix as I have with incline and it felt more comfortable, at least. Grand.

OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 3
50kg x 1
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
55kg x 3
40kg x 11 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Felt far stronger than last week and I finally got 5x3 @ 55kg, so am happy.

NG cable rows:
59kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20

90s rest. These are far tougher when I'm not fresh.

Chest supported reverse DB flyes:
5kgs x 8
7.5kgs x 8
7.5kgs x 8
7.5kgs x 8
7.5kgs x 8
7.5kgs x 8

45s rest. Not difficult at all. Should have upped weight or reps. Will do next week.

Walking DB lunges:
10kgs each leg x 12
15kgs each leg x 12
15kgs each leg x 12
15kgs each leg x 12

60s rest. Was a sweaty, panting mess after these. So unconditioned.

Grand day.

TRS30

Do you time your rest periods from the last rep to the start of the first rep on next set or from when you start your pre lift routine?

Alf Veedersane

TRS30 wrote: »

Do you time your rest periods from the last rep to the start of the first rep on next set or from when you start your pre lift routine?

Rest between sets so once you finish one set, you start the timer and rest period is until you do the first rep of next set. You're just timing the rest between sets.

TRS30

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Rest between sets so once you finish one set, you start the timer and rest period is until you do the first rep of next set. You're just timing the rest between sets.

So if you are doing 60 sec rest periods and say your squat routine is 15 secs from walking to bar to starting first rep, you walk to bar at 45 secs?

Mr. CooL ICE

If my rest is 60s, this is what I do. I rack the bar, pick up my phone and hit the timer that is set at 60s. When the 60s timer goes off, I unrack the bar and do my set. Rinse and repeat.

So technically, my times between sets would be longer than 60s. Racking the bar and unracking + setting up, plus actually picking up my phone would mean that the period between the previous set and the next set is longer than 60s and would vary depending on the lift.

There is nothing scientific about what I do and I'm not under any instruction to do this by any coach. I merely do this because I used to take the absolute piss with my rest periods. Some days, I'd be in the gym well over an hour and only have 8 working sets done and end up skipping accessories because I run out of time. I choose the rest periods per lift based on what I think the rest period should be.

Mr. CooL ICE

TRS30 wrote: »

So if you are doing 60 sec rest periods and say your squat routine is 15 secs from walking to bar to starting first rep, you walk to bar at 45 secs?

This post actually sounds like you think I'm doing EMOMs. I'm not. I'm merely using the stopwatch function on my phone.

That said, I have been planning on doing deadlift EMOMs at some point, but not yet (I have form issues to sort out first). I haven't figured out how to do things like set up on time etc but yeah, walking up to the bar at a given time sounds like what I will do. I have an EMOM app on my phone and there is a bleep 10 seconds away from the one minute timer.

Alf Veedersane

TRS30 wrote: »

So if you are doing 60 sec rest periods and say your squat routine is 15 secs from walking to bar to starting first rep, you walk to bar at 45 secs?

If I had a 60s rest period, I usually start getting under the bar at 50s and start on 60s. Or thereabouts.

TRS30

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

There is nothing scientific about what I do and I'm not under any instruction to do this by any coach. I merely do this because I used to take the absolute piss with my rest periods. Some days, I'd be in the gym well over an hour and only have 8 working sets done and end up skipping accessories because I run out of time. I choose the rest periods per lift based on what I think the rest period should be.

This. I work our at home so plenty of distractions. Would suddenly realise I had taken 5 mins beeen sets.

Coincides with starting GVT so that 90 secs seems like a blink of an eye from about set 6 on. Legs like jelly!

Had to google EMOM, never heard that term before.

Emom makes me a sad panda. It does mean you tear through the sets though

Dtp1979

Save me the bother of googling. What does it mean?

Alf Veedersane

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Save me the bother of googling. What does it mean?

Every Minute On the Minute.

Mr. CooL ICE

If you pronounce the acronym out loud you sound like roadrunner

Alf Veedersane

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

If you pronounce the acronym out loud you sound like roadrunner

If you say it really slow, you sound like Eeyore.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 6

Had a 14 hour work day yesterday which involved 4.5 hours in the car. Stiff as a plank as a result. Having an early start today didn't help either.

530 tempo squat:
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
* belt *
100kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3

No timed rests, calibrated plates. Keeping light and slowing everything right down to see what's not right. Found that when setting my upper back, I sometimes hyperextend my lower back. 1 or 2 shoulder shrugs on descent for some odd reason. Elbow position is better than before but still has room for improvement. Bar path seems good at least. Also tempo was more like 420 on recording but FELT LIKE 990 (if that's a thing).

Bench (tng):
20kg x 10
60kg x 8
70kg x 6
80kg x 6
87.5kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6

90s rest. Grand.

Lat pulldown:
53kg plate x 5
65kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12

60s rest. Had planned on 5 x AMRAP pullups today but had no time.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 7

No chance to walk last night and but was somewhat nimble this morning. Graaand.

Deadlift:
20kg x 5
70kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
120kg x 3
140kg x 2
150kg x 2
160kg x 1
170kg x 1
180kg x 1
140kg x 4
140kg x 4
140kg x 4

No times rests, calibrated plates. Form was a little off. Wasn't locking shoulders or engaging lats properly. Back was straight and hips rose at same rate as bar, so not all bad. Still room for improvement.

Dips:
x 3
x 15 (AMRAP)
x 9 (AMRAP)
x 8 (AMRAP)
x 7 (AMRAP)
x 7 (AMRAP)

60s rest. New rep RP, so yay. Front of shoulder and bicep hurt a little after first set. Realised what I was doing wrong and remembered to push my chest up, which shifted my weight back and made the triceps work more, which was the point.

Cable rows:
53kg plate x 15
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20

60s rest. Fancied a change from barbell rows so used a straight bar here. Piece of piss tbh. Reduced ROM from the straight bar made these too easy to the point that it felt like a waste of time.

Lateral raise:
5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 10

45s rest. These were tough (to do right).

Facepull:
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20

60s rest. Easy.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 10

Long, tiring weekend. Lots of driving. 3 hours of Christmas shopping on Saturday is definitely GPP. Legs felt better after a 4.3km walk yesterday. Was somewhat nimble this morning.

Squat:
20kg x 8
50kg x 5
70kg x 5
* belt *
90kg x 5
110kg x 3
120kg x 1
130kg x 4
120kg x 4
120kg x 4
120kg x 4
120kg x 4
120kg x 4
120kg x 4

105s rest, calibrated plates. Form was less than solid. Bar never felt comfortable on my back. I'd like to blame the crappy bar I used today but bad craftsman tools etc etc. Few reps went a little forward too. At least I felt strong (130kg = heaviest on my back since July) but I was still dissatisfied.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
75kg x 3
85kg x 2
95kg x 1
100kg x 2
85kg x 5
85kg x 5
85kg x 5

90s rest, calibrated plates. First time repping 100kg. Did 100kg x 3 before July's comp but they were fake weights (uncalibrated meant that was probably 95/96kg). There was room in the tank but ass rose in the 2nd rep.

NG chinups:
x 2
x 12 (AMRAP)
x 8 (AMRAP)
x 6 (AMRAP)

60 rest. Bad time management meant I cut these short. Was pooped by this point anyway.

Weird day. Could have been worse.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 11

Only a short walk last night. No doms this morning, but wasn't nimble either.

Pin press:
20kg x 10 (no pin)
60kg x 5 (no pin)
60kg x 3
75kg x 3
85kg x 2
95kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3

75s rest, calibrated plates. Top set was horribly grindy. Form felt off; shoulders were locked but afterwards I thought perhaps I wasn't trying to 'bring my chest to the bar' or something. Dunno.

OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 3
50kg x 1
57.5kg x 2
57.5kg x 2
57.5kg x 2
57.5kg x 2
57.5kg x 2
40kg x 12 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Feeling strong. Have never pressed more than 60kg but OHP is feeling the strongest it ever has right now.

NG cable row:
59kg plate x 15
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20

60s rest. Grand

Chest supported reverse DB flye:
5kgs x 10
10kgs x 10
10kgs x 10
10kgs x 10
10kgs x 10

60s rest. Form a little sloppy.

Walking DB lunges:
15kgs each leg x 8
20kgs each leg x 8
20kgs each leg x 8
20kgs each leg x 8
20kgs each leg x 8

60s rest. Urghghhgrrgh. Grand though.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 13

Very little movement over the last two days; just had no time. Expected to be stiff as a plank this morning but actually felt grand.

530 tempo squat:
20kg x 5
50kg x 3
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3
100kg x 3

90s rest, calibrated plates. Same as last week but sans belt. Trying a few things for upper back tightness. Last week, I was sticking the back of my neck back over the bar which did tighten the upper back, but I found it hard to do that and keep the lower back neutral. Today I tried pulling the top of my head away from the bar which made me pull the bar down and tighten the upper back. I liked it and need to practise it some more.

However, I felt tightness in the same spot in my hamstring that got injured recently from the 3rd set. Tried ignoring it but stopped after 4. Probably nothing but better safe than sorry.

Buffalo bar bench:
23kg x 5
43kg x 5
63kg x 5
73kg x 5
73kg x 8
73kg x 8
73kg x 8
* widened grip *
73kg x 5
73kg x 5

90s rest, calibrated plates. Had normal tng bench planned but buffalo bar was already set up and I was mad to try it for the craic. Didn't like it! Used a similar grip width as normal bench but felt pressure on the pinky side of my hand. Widened my grip a bit to change contact angle and it relieved that pressure, but made it feel heavier.

No harm done. At least I now know what it's like.

Pullup:
x 2
x 16 (AMRAP)
x 8
x 6
x 6
x 4

60s rest. Yay for rep PR. I need to record these because my form could be an absolute disgrace. Honestly not sure.

Grand day. Done in 1h5m.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 14

Only a brief walk last night. No significant stiffness this morning. Gave the hamstring a brief foam roll this morning as a 'just in case', even though conv stance doesn't affect this injury.

Deadlift:
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 5
140kg x 1
145kg x 5
145kg x 5
145kg x 5

No timed rests, calibrated plates. Just some light volume. Form wasn't the greatest. Hips were set and lower back was fine but chest wasn't brought through enough. Kept bar close when lowering to ensure consistent position between reps.

JM press:
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
55kg x 8
55kg x 8
55kg x 8
55kg x 8

75s rest. Haven't done these in a while. Trying not to cheat them so pushing through the pinky side of my hand to engage triceps more. If I'm gonna do them, I'm gonna do them right.

Cable rows:
53kg x 15
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20
65kg plate x 20

60s rest. Used a v-bar so grip was only kinda pronated. Definitely made it harder than using a straight bar

Dumbbell lateral raises:
5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10
7.5kg x 10

60s rest. Grand. Form better than last week.

Facepulls:
41kg plate x 12
41kg plate x 12
41kg plate x 12
41kg plate x 12
41kg plate x 12

30s rest. Grand.

Grand day. Not sweaty though.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 17

Christmas shopping GPP over the weekend and a little garden tidy up yesterday meant there was plenty of movement but nothing you could call exercise. Was nimble enough this morning though.

Squat:
20kg x 3
40kg x 5
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
* belt *
110kg x 3
125kg x 2
135kg x 2
135kg x 2
135kg x 2
110kg x 8
110kg x 8

No timed rests, calibrated plates. Top sets felt solid AF. 1st reps moved fast while all 2nd reps moved slowly, but form stayed together. Felt like my legs were the limiting factor today rather than me feeling like I was balancing a barbell on my back while trying to hail mary it up so I don't need to wrecklessly dump it.

It seems like I'm changing form/setup every week but this week, everything felt solid. I realised my breathing had been wrong; I was pushing my belly into the belt but instead, I was pushing my belly down towards my ass. I also put my thumbs under the bar, which traditionally wrecked my elbows but it helped keep things feeling solid. Pushing my head upwards also helped things today.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
75kg x 3
85kg x 2
95kg x 1
100kg x 2
90kg x 3
90kg x 3
90kg x 3

90s rest, calibrated plates. Goal today was to double 100kg but keep my ass down. No joy. Video wasn't clear but it felt like it went up.

NG pullups:
x 3
x 13 (AMRAP)
x 7 (AMRAP)
x 5 (AMRAP)

60s rest. Dunno. Just felt pooped. Weird because volume was pretty low today. Cut these short because of poopiness.

On paper, this looks like a meh session but I'm strangely happy about how squats felt. Might actually squat something that isn't completely lame some day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 18

Only time for a 2.5km walk last night. Had some unexpected glute doms this morning. Bitta stretching, be grand.

Floor press:
20kg x 10
40kg x 6
60kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 1+5

90s rest. Bottle was too near on last set and hit it, so reracked, moved bottle and continued. I find myself shrugging my shoulders on floor press for some reason. Guess my lat engagement in bench is second nature when I can use leg drive, which might explain why I need to really think about it for floor press.

OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 3
50kg x 1
57.5kg x 3
57.5kg x 3
57.5kg x 1
* increased rest to 90s *
57.5kg x 3
57.5kg x 2+F
40kg x 11 (AMRAP)

60s -> 90s rest. First two sets were soooo slow and grindy and was pooped by 3rd. Hoped giving myself an extra 30s might help and it kinda did, but not enough.

NG cable row:
59kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20
71kg plate x 20

60s rest. This was tough. Can't go any heavier now.

Dumbbell rear delt flye:
5kgs x 10
7.5kgs x 12
7.5kgs x 12
7.5kgs x 12

60s rest. Grand.

Dumbbell walking lunge:
0kg each leg x 8
15kgs each leg x 8
15kgs each leg x 8
15kgs each leg x 8
15kgs each leg x 8

60s rest. Lol conditioning. Kept it light and short as I wanted to leave time for some hamstring stuff.

Single leg hamstring curls:
17kg plate both x 5
17kg plate R x 5/L x 5
17kg plate R x 5/L x 5
17kg plate R x 5/L x 5
17kg plate R x 5/L x 5
17kg plate R x 5/L x 5

No rest, just going from side to side and keeping it slow and controlled. Wanted to do this out of fear of my injury returning. Hamstrings felt filled with blood and sweat was pouring out of me.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 12

3.5km and 1.5km walks yesterday, so stayed moving at least. Was loose enough this morning. Grand.

Pause squat:
20kg x 8
70kg x 5
90kg x 3
* belt *
100kg x 1
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3
110kg x 3

90s rest, calibrated plates. Keeping volume low; just working on my breathing and bracing. New setup is working really well for me because everything is feeling more solid than ever. But it's easy to make everything feel good when the weight is this low. But I'll tackle that after christmas!

Bench (tng):
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 4
90kg x 4
90kg x 4
90kg x 4
90kg x 4

90s rest, calibrated plates. Plenty of ass rising. Goddammit.

NG lat pulldown:
53kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12

90s rest. Area around pullup station was crowded so did these instead. Grand and easy. Close grip neutral pulldowns really set my upper lats on fire.

Really happy with squats today. I'm still weak but everything is clocking into place.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 21

Crazy day yesterday in work that resulted in not enough eaten and a terrible night sleep. Had planned on seeing if a YOLO pre-christmas break 200kg pull was on the cards today but I felt beaten before I even got to the gym.

Deadlift:
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 3
140kg x 2
160kg x 1
180kg x 1
192.5kg x F

160kg moved well. 180kg felt awful and I'm pretty sure I used far too much lower back. Knew 200kg wasn't gonna happen so went a little more conservative. Got it to my knees and just gave up.

Even under ideal conditions, 200kg wouldn't have happened today. Deadlift form has been too inconsistent lately and haven't been putting in nearly enough volume. Once a week is too low a frequency for me; practising more often usually results in becoming better at something so that shall be tackled in the new year.

Work crisis meant I had to run early so nothing else done.

Alf Veedersane

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

Even under ideal conditions, 200kg wouldn't have happened today. Deadlift form has been too inconsistent lately and haven't been putting in nearly enough volume. Once a week is too low a frequency for me; practising more often usually results in becoming better at something so that shall be tackled in the new year.

Even adding in a variation like RDLs on one of the other days will help and won't take as much of a toll on CNS

Mr. CooL ICE

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Even adding in a variation like RDLs on one of the other days will help and won't take as much of a toll on CNS

Don't think RDLs would work for me. It's not a strength issue; just technique. My problem is general setup cues and getting tight before pulling from the floor so a variation starting from the top won't help. Either regular DLs, or deficits, or paused would be ideal.

If I have a bad deadlift day, I'd often realise what I did wrong a few hours later but then I have to wait 7 days before trying to rectify it. That's my main problem right now. I just need to practise more often.

Alf Veedersane

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

Don't think RDLs would work for me. It's not a strength issue; just technique. My problem is general setup cues and getting tight before pulling from the floor so a variation starting from the top won't help. Either regular DLs, or deficits, or paused would be ideal.

If I have a bad deadlift day, I'd often realise what I did wrong a few hours later but then I have to wait 7 days before trying to rectify it. That's my main problem right now. I just need to practise more often.

Does it become an issue after a certain weight or is it an issue from the start?

Mr. CooL ICE

December 27

Very little done in terms of mobility over the last week. Somehow not stiff as a plank. Santa brought Power Perfect 3s so today was going to be based around having fun with them. No plan today other than greasing the wheel.

Squat:
20kg x 5 (with some pauses)
50kg x 5 (with some pauses)
70kg x 5
* belt *
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
120kg x 5
120kg x 5
120kg x 1
120kg x 1

No timed rests, calibrated plates. Top sets felt like dog crap. Recorded second set of 5 and my head position was all over the shop. Set my upper back, then started looking down when I started the descent. I never do that. Amazing how bad I can get after being away from the gym for a handful of sessions.

Also, belt felt very tight. To be expected.

Front squat:
70kg x 1
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
100kg x 2
100kg x 1

No timed rests, mostly calibrated plates. Just for the craic because new shoes. Got a wave of light headedness after the very last rep which wasn't expected.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 10
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 3
85kg x 5
85kg x 5
85kg x 5

No timed rests, calibrated plates. Was going to go for 3x5 @ 90kg but felt pretty weak after not benching in a week. Grand.

Facepulls:
29kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20
35kg plate x 20

First set was too light because I smacked the middle of the rop off my forehead on the first rep. Bit too easy otherwise.

Relaxing session. Nothing too serious.

Alf Veedersane

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

Santa brought Power Perfect 3s so today was going to be based around having fun with them.

You usually squat in Powerlifts, yeah?

Interested to see if you if you notice a difference with extra heel height.

Mr. CooL ICE

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Does it become an issue after a certain weight or is it an issue from the start?

Sorry, forgot about this.

I'm not sure, but it definitely becomes more apparent when the weight gets heavier. Which is to be expected of any technical breakdown, tbh.

I compared the one video I took of that session to videos I took from sessions where form felt spot on and noticed one big difference. When getting tight in the good ones, my ass moved backwards away from the bar slightly. In the bad ones, ass moved forwards. Everything else was the same*; shin angle, hip height, shoulder blade position relative to the bar, etc. And that kind of makes sense in my head.

Moving ass backwards is a cue I need to consciously remember. Without doing that, I end up rounding my lower back, which becomes more pronounced when the bar leaves the floor. When I do it, it flattens the lower back and it has stayed flat for the weights I have pulled when doing so.

* as far as the camera angles showed

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

You usually squat in Powerlifts, yeah?

Interested to see if you if you notice a difference with extra heel height.

Yep, Powerlift 2s. I compared the two shoes side by side and there seems to be a 1/4" difference. Need to break them in a bit before I make my mind up fully. I'll keep them anyway. At the very least, they'll be handy if I decide to do loads of quad hypertrophy.

Alf Veedersane

Everyone's mechanics is different so I'm just curious about how they'll feel moving from powerlifts. I think officially there is a 0.15" difference. Which sounds very little but can feel quite different.

Mr. CooL ICE

Well, I felt taller walking into the gym!

Pp3 buddies
Did you get the pink ones too

Mr. CooL ICE

bluewolf wrote: »

Pp3 buddies
Did you get the pink ones too

Limited edition Hello Kitty rainbow ones

Dtp1979

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

Limited edition Hello Kitty rainbow ones

Man, You gotta go barbie, she’s timeless

Alf Veedersane

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Man, You gotta go barbie, she’s timeless

Might help with your front rack as well.

Come on barbie let's go party

Alf Veedersane

Power Perfects to 'Barbie Girl' in...how many posts?

Mr. CooL ICE

December 28

Paused deadlift:
70kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 3
140kg x 1
140kg x 1
140kg x 1
140kg x 1
150kg x 1
150kg x 1
150kg x 1

No rest times, calibrated plates. Nothing crazy; just drilling setup cues. Felt a hell of a lot better than last week, but that wouldn't be hard.

OHP:
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
55kg x 1
60kg x 1
65kg x F
65kg x F
60kg x 1
60kg x 1
60kg x 1

No rests timed. Chanced my arm at a new PR but no joy. Matched my PB (60kg) for a few singles. Ah well.

Nothing serious. Just getting to the gym and moving a bit of weight.

Mr. CooL ICE

December 31

Barely moved over the last few days. Can't blame the weather; I was just lazy. Was as stiff as a plank this morning.

Squat:
20kg x 5
70kg x 5
90kg x 3
* belt *
110kg x 3
125kg x 5
125kg x 5
125kg x 5
125kg x 5
125kg x 5

No timed rests, but I reckon they were at least 3 mins each. And calibrated plates. Form was good, but not perfect. A couple of reps had my head hanging forward but always corrected for the next rep. Sets got easier as I went on.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5

90s rest, calibrated plates. Form was really good but I felt weak. Am resting the bar on my chest during the pause more instead of keeping tension in my arms and it has helped me keep my ass down. Not sure how but I'll take it.

Started to feel pukey during warmups. My general fitness from being a lazy bum and eating sh1te the last few weeks has really started to show.

NG lat pulldowns:
53kg plate x 12
59kg plate x 12
65kg plate x 12

60s rest. Meh.

Gym closed tomorrow, so only deadlifting once this week. Boo.