I've switched off the beef; now it's 130g of Strip (Costco discontinued the sirloin), and it'll change to 130g of something cheaper once I've run out of that. Chicken's down to 130g as well. I've got the pork portioned out, and I'm set on fish for the time being but will probably switch to one that I can dole out in larger pieces.
Since I might still be losing weight at 2200kcal/day, I've upped the rice to 140g for dinner. That may have helped with deads yesterday (where I ran it as 130 for dinner and 50 for supper), and I'm interested to see what happens over the next few days. If I'm walking around at 160 when I start my cut I should be totally golden.
Friday, May 9, 2014
2014-05-08 Deadlift
Warmup
Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5 (added belt)
310x5
350x3
390x5x3
I did these with shorter rests than usual; I just felt ready sooner. I'll give 397.5 a whirl with no belt for the first set to see if I've just been recovering better, but I have a strong feeling that belting up contributed to how well I did here. Ejay took a video for set 3, and it honestly didn't look like anything maximal.
From this I'm confident that I'll hit 405x5x3 in two weeks (hence an extra 2.5lbs next time) and have a good shot at 500 come June.
Pull-Up -
10 (9 and 10 cheaty)
Chin-Up -
8 (straight bar)
8, 6 (V-bar)
My lats are not used to contracting to this position. I'll alternate the two or something.
Squat -
45x10x3
95x8x2
135x5
I found "my" stance - it's a bit wider than shoulder width.
Bench -
45x10x3
95x5
Focusing on the lat cues I've been learning in PT really helped on the 95 set.
45-Degree Back Raise -
10x20x3
Plate behind the head makes these brutally hard.
Hard Plank - 3 of 20sec
Bat Wings - 3 of 10 with 7.5lbs and 5-second holds. Use Saarni's old bench; it's higher.
Blast Strap Row - 10x3
Power Pull - 10, 5 (at this point I was really losing the ability to contract properly)
Plate Farmer's Walk - 3 trips with 25lbs each hand, each one from the decline to the wall x2
Pretzel Stretch - 10 breaths each side. I need to check on how to do these.
Lat Roll - Some using regular roller
Posterior Shoulder Smash - Used the gemini, had some good finds
Pec Smash - Tried with the lacrosse ball; not as good. Will work on this.
Super Couch - Tried to use a stronger band but the fitstaff couldn't hook it to anything. I'll ask Cyrus to hit my quads tomorrow to make up for this and the lack of quad rolling (ran out of time).
I'm going to order a (Reactive) Slingshot tomorrow, and a belt fairly soon. I'm guessing I'll go with the same Lever style that Henry has, but it might wind up being a different brand with finer hole spacing (if available). Bench training will now alternate benching and slingshot volume work.
Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5 (added belt)
310x5
350x3
390x5x3
I did these with shorter rests than usual; I just felt ready sooner. I'll give 397.5 a whirl with no belt for the first set to see if I've just been recovering better, but I have a strong feeling that belting up contributed to how well I did here. Ejay took a video for set 3, and it honestly didn't look like anything maximal.
From this I'm confident that I'll hit 405x5x3 in two weeks (hence an extra 2.5lbs next time) and have a good shot at 500 come June.
Pull-Up -
10 (9 and 10 cheaty)
Chin-Up -
8 (straight bar)
8, 6 (V-bar)
My lats are not used to contracting to this position. I'll alternate the two or something.
Squat -
45x10x3
95x8x2
135x5
I found "my" stance - it's a bit wider than shoulder width.
Bench -
45x10x3
95x5
Focusing on the lat cues I've been learning in PT really helped on the 95 set.
45-Degree Back Raise -
10x20x3
Plate behind the head makes these brutally hard.
Hard Plank - 3 of 20sec
Bat Wings - 3 of 10 with 7.5lbs and 5-second holds. Use Saarni's old bench; it's higher.
Blast Strap Row - 10x3
Power Pull - 10, 5 (at this point I was really losing the ability to contract properly)
Plate Farmer's Walk - 3 trips with 25lbs each hand, each one from the decline to the wall x2
Pretzel Stretch - 10 breaths each side. I need to check on how to do these.
Lat Roll - Some using regular roller
Posterior Shoulder Smash - Used the gemini, had some good finds
Pec Smash - Tried with the lacrosse ball; not as good. Will work on this.
Super Couch - Tried to use a stronger band but the fitstaff couldn't hook it to anything. I'll ask Cyrus to hit my quads tomorrow to make up for this and the lack of quad rolling (ran out of time).
I'm going to order a (Reactive) Slingshot tomorrow, and a belt fairly soon. I'm guessing I'll go with the same Lever style that Henry has, but it might wind up being a different brand with finer hole spacing (if available). Bench training will now alternate benching and slingshot volume work.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
2014-05-05 Squat
Warmup
Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
145x5
205x5
250x5 (Belt)
290x3 (Belt)
410 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
430 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
450 Walkout
340x5
I borrowed Henry's lever belt and adjusted it in by one notch; that actually wound up making the lifts and walkouts a lot harder. Pushing out against the belt distracted me from keeping an upright torso (or biased my brain towards letting my back take the weight), so I leaned forward a lot more than usual. The last set actually looked better than the others, and the 450 walkout was easy without the belt.
Deadlift -
135x10x3
Squat Walkout -
405, 2 times
I loosened the belt one notch to go for this one; it worked a lot better. Being able to breath helps.
45-Degree Back Raise -
20x3, hands on head
Adding these for a deadlift accessory.
Pull-Up -
8x4
Fairly strict
Super Couch for 1m/position
I met Cyrus in the parking lot and he gave me a card; I've got a free massage credit, and I'll set up with him for Friday. Today's main focus from now on will be on abs; I have a feeling the rear laterals were actually hurting me shoulder-wise.
Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
145x5
205x5
250x5 (Belt)
290x3 (Belt)
410 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
430 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
450 Walkout
340x5
I borrowed Henry's lever belt and adjusted it in by one notch; that actually wound up making the lifts and walkouts a lot harder. Pushing out against the belt distracted me from keeping an upright torso (or biased my brain towards letting my back take the weight), so I leaned forward a lot more than usual. The last set actually looked better than the others, and the 450 walkout was easy without the belt.
Deadlift -
135x10x3
Squat Walkout -
405, 2 times
I loosened the belt one notch to go for this one; it worked a lot better. Being able to breath helps.
45-Degree Back Raise -
20x3, hands on head
Adding these for a deadlift accessory.
Pull-Up -
8x4
Fairly strict
Super Couch for 1m/position
I met Cyrus in the parking lot and he gave me a card; I've got a free massage credit, and I'll set up with him for Friday. Today's main focus from now on will be on abs; I have a feeling the rear laterals were actually hurting me shoulder-wise.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
2014-05-04 Arms and Prehab
Warmup
Overhead EZ Extension -
30x12
40x12
50x12
60x7
That external rotation "slip" during the 235 unrack seems to have set my left shoulder worse; it didn't like these (which makes sense, since I cheat the later reps by throwing my elbows out).
Preacher Curl -
50x13, 9, 10
Rope Pressdown -
40x20
Aggravated shoulder.
V-Bar Pressdown -
40x20x2
Didn't aggravate shoulder.
Face Pull - 5x15x3
BER - Micro*15x3
Super couch with twist
Quad rolling
Upper back rolling
This is the last two-a-day workout; it was nice for a while but I think I'll benefit psychologically (and progress-wise) from moving back to the evenings.
Overhead EZ Extension -
30x12
40x12
50x12
60x7
That external rotation "slip" during the 235 unrack seems to have set my left shoulder worse; it didn't like these (which makes sense, since I cheat the later reps by throwing my elbows out).
Preacher Curl -
50x13, 9, 10
Rope Pressdown -
40x20
Aggravated shoulder.
V-Bar Pressdown -
40x20x2
Didn't aggravate shoulder.
Face Pull - 5x15x3
BER - Micro*15x3
Super couch with twist
Quad rolling
Upper back rolling
This is the last two-a-day workout; it was nice for a while but I think I'll benefit psychologically (and progress-wise) from moving back to the evenings.
2014-05-04 Bench (and some bonus)
Warmup
Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3
235 Unrack - tweaked my left shoulder; it felt like it pretty much slipped backwards out of the socket
195x3 (4F)x2
190x4
CG -
155x5
160x5
165x4 (5F)
165x0, 1 (pin press)
155x5x3
Bench (ring finger) -
155x5
Feels weird
I'm going to try benching in the annex again and doing everything in the evenings. I guess we're back to one workout per day. It's also time to put the prehab back in, since the limiter here may just be shoulder stability.
Looking back over my logs, the common element in my progress here seems to be the floor press. I want to do some higher-intensity work on the bench itself, so I'll throw floor press where Push Press was and switch bench down to triples. I'll also try throwing in strict press and close grip for 5x5s after those movements...I'm really just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks at this point. After the meet I'll rotate bench out for floor press and go back to the push/strict pressing cycle on the other day.
Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3
235 Unrack - tweaked my left shoulder; it felt like it pretty much slipped backwards out of the socket
195x3 (4F)x2
190x4
CG -
155x5
160x5
165x4 (5F)
165x0, 1 (pin press)
155x5x3
Bench (ring finger) -
155x5
Feels weird
I'm going to try benching in the annex again and doing everything in the evenings. I guess we're back to one workout per day. It's also time to put the prehab back in, since the limiter here may just be shoulder stability.
Looking back over my logs, the common element in my progress here seems to be the floor press. I want to do some higher-intensity work on the bench itself, so I'll throw floor press where Push Press was and switch bench down to triples. I'll also try throwing in strict press and close grip for 5x5s after those movements...I'm really just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks at this point. After the meet I'll rotate bench out for floor press and go back to the push/strict pressing cycle on the other day.
Friday, May 2, 2014
2014-05-02 Deadlift
Warmup, with some lat pulldowns
Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5
310x5
345x5
385x5, 5, 4 (5F)
315x1
Technique is king here - I lost my lat engagement on the later reps. The bar swung out a bit later on set 3, and that plus resting the bar fully on the ground probably cost me the 5th rep.
I went scared cat/Bob Youngs style on that one; I got it past my knees, but the total loss of back position made it impossible to lock out.
I'm going to push my workouts back an extra day or so for extra recovery, do some recovery deads over the next few days, eat a bit more today, and probably take deadlift days off work so I can pull in the evenings next time.
Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5
310x5
345x5
385x5, 5, 4 (5F)
315x1
Technique is king here - I lost my lat engagement on the later reps. The bar swung out a bit later on set 3, and that plus resting the bar fully on the ground probably cost me the 5th rep.
I went scared cat/Bob Youngs style on that one; I got it past my knees, but the total loss of back position made it impossible to lock out.
I'm going to push my workouts back an extra day or so for extra recovery, do some recovery deads over the next few days, eat a bit more today, and probably take deadlift days off work so I can pull in the evenings next time.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
2014-05-01 Light Bench
Warmup, mildly
Some slight rolling for upper back
Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5x3
Didn't focus on form until the last set; these wound up being pretty sloppy.
Side Raise -
20x12
Felt like these were aggravating the shoulder so I stopped and went home.
I'm getting depressed over this. Not doing upper body prehab seems to have cost me.
Some slight rolling for upper back
Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5x3
Didn't focus on form until the last set; these wound up being pretty sloppy.
Side Raise -
20x12
Felt like these were aggravating the shoulder so I stopped and went home.
I'm getting depressed over this. Not doing upper body prehab seems to have cost me.
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