Griff sometimes lifts, mostly climbs

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Griff
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Griff sometimes lifts, mostly climbs

#1

Post by Griff » Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:21 am

Stats (April 2018):
Age: 35
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 183lb

Best lifts - 1RM (tested/est)
Squat: 295/310
Bench: 225(paused)/235(TnG)
Deadlift: 335/345
Press: 155/155

9/10/19 update:
Bodyweight: 182
Squat: 330/345 (tested/e1RM)
Bench: 250/250
Deadlift: 425/435

5/18/22 update:
Bodyweight: 164
Squat: unknown
Bench (paused): 235 (e1RM)
Deadlift: 405/415 (tested/e1RM)
Last edited by Griff on Wed May 18, 2022 12:54 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#2

Post by Griff » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:22 am

Things are crazy at work, so I haven't had time to log Tuesday evening's workout until now. It went well--everything was pretty easy. High(er) reps felt kind of good after months of fives!

4/24/18
Squats:
215x8(reps)x3(sets)
Bench:
155x8x4
Rows:
135x8x4 -- switched back and forth between sets of Pendlay and not touching the floor between reps. Not sure which I like better.
Dips:
BWx8x3
Chins:
BWx5, 6, 5 -- not to failure, but harder than expected after rows

Fingers crossed I can get out of the office in time to train tonight. I might be training more like once every 3-4 days for the next few weeks. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#3

Post by Wilhelm » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:46 am

Welcome, @Griff!

Thank you for adding your log to the site.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#4

Post by Griff » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:53 am

@Wilhelm Thanks!

Lets see if I can figure out how to upload videos...
Squat:


Bench:

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Re: Griff's Journal

#5

Post by Griff » Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:13 am

4/26/18
Squats:
265x2, 2/255x2, 2, 2
Press:
130x2x6
Deadlift:
290x2x4

Notes: That didn't go well. I actually made it home from work at a decent hour, but wasn't feeling great. The combination of stress at work, long hours, lack of food, and poor sleep (2 year old has been sick with colds/ear infections consistently for weeks now) is adding up. But given that I'll probably have to work quite a bit this weekend I decided to push through.

Squat warmups felt heavy and when I got to 265 the first two sets moved way slower than I wanted. I dropped to 255 and that moved a little better, but still didn't feel explosive. At squat reps were like RPE 8.5-9. Last week 260 moved easily--more like 7-7.5's.

Press and deadlift went better. I hit my target weights and, while still not as fast as I would have liked, they didn't feel grindy. I'll repeat 265 on squats next week.

No videos--I was too lazy to set up the tripod. Just wanted to get my work done last night and get out ASAP. I don't know how hard I'll be able to push the next couple weeks--I'm hoping I can at least tread water. Keeping a log will at least give me some accountability.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#6

Post by Griff » Wed May 02, 2018 8:47 am

Been buried with work, but have actually put in two workouts. One sucked, one didn't.

4/28/18
Squats:
245x5, 5, 4 / 235x5
Bench:
175x5x5
Deadlift:
265x5x3

Notes: pretty rough and discouraging. My first week on this program felt easy (as intended), but this session and the previous one were rough--everything just felt way heavier than it should have. I ended up dropping a rep on the third set of squats and subsequently dropping the weight. I definitely could have ground through those reps, but I want to get away from grinding reps. I went back and forth on whether I needed to scale back my weights, rethink my programming, etc. I decided that these were just bad days (easily explained by stress and lack of food and sleep). So I'll repeat the weight on squats next week and I think it will move better.

5/1/18
Squats:
220x8x3
Press: 105x8x4
Row 145x8x4
Dips:
BWx 8, 9, 8
Chins:
BWx 6, 6, 5

Notes: that's more like it. Everything moved fast, particularly squats. Presses were a little weird because I was lazy and tried to press in my squat shoes (forgot my flats in the house). Set 1 felt way off, so I ran back in and the next 3 sets were much better. I'm doing more of a strict press on the "8's" day. Other work was solid. The garage gym is getting hot... summer is coming :?

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Re: Griff's Journal

#7

Post by Griff » Mon May 14, 2018 11:54 am

Been too busy to log workouts online, but actually made it through a very busy period at work without missing too much.

5/5/18
Squat: 265x2x5; 280x1
Bench: 220x1; 205x2x6
DL: 315x1; 295x2x4
Notes: during squats decided to add in a "single @8" on power day. I liked it and will continue going forward.

5/7/18
Squat: 245x5x4
Press: 120x5x5
DL: 270x5, 5, 4
Notes: Squats and press felt good. Lower back was fatigued and getting the final rep on DL would have been pushing too hard.

5/10/18
Squat: 225x8x3
Bench: 160x8x3
Notes: had been at work until 1am the night before. Actually felt great for squats and okay for bench, but then hit a wall after the third set. Skipped the 4th set and all my other hypertrophy work (rows, chins, dips). Debated pushing through but glad I stopped--I was exhausted and it would have been too much.

5/12/18
Squat: 290x1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ECO7KRPf0; 270x2x5
Press: 150x1; 135x2x6
DL: 325x1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQGhR0Rl_I; 300x2x4
Notes: Awesome workout. Felt so good, everything felt light and moved fast.

The deal I was working on signed up Friday evening, so I should be back on track after a rough couple weeks work-wise. The thing I'm really happy with is that I managed to tread-water or even improve through the last couple weeks, despite lots of stress, sub-optimal sleep and insufficient food. A lot of times when work gets really busy my training takes a step back, so this was a big positive. I feel like there are major gainz ahead the next couple months.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#8

Post by Griff » Wed May 16, 2018 3:42 pm

Something weird is going on. Last night was my third "fahves" workout that has sucked. 2's and 8's have been kicking ass--easily hitting target weights without any grinding. Did I set my working weights wrong for 5's on squat and DL? Or is this just my body's way of demanding more variety after running nothing but 5's on SS? Maybe a **** you to Rip? :lol:

5/15/18
Squat: 247.5x4, 4, 2 (warm-ups felt heavy; only went for a 2.5lb jump; didn't fail reps, but was hitting RPE9 on all these sets; was frustrated and dropped my 4th set)
Bench: 177.5x5x5 (not bad, not great)
DL: 270x5x3 (last set was harder than it should have been--@9)
Notes: frustrating

I think I'll give it one more shot at the current weights next week. The night before last I (once again) only got a few hours sleep and was pretty drained by the time I got out to the gym around 8:30pm. Slept better last night and should hopefully be in a position to get 7+ hours pretty regularly for the forseeable future. So maybe that's the explanation for these workouts sucking so much. If I'm grinding or dropping reps again next 5's session I guess I'll reset my working weights. The thing is, I handled 225x8x3 easily just a few days ago (also late at night after a long day at work on <4 hours sleep). 247.5x5x4 doesn't seem like it should be significantly more difficult. Oh well.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#9

Post by Griff » Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:17 pm

I'm going to start logging here again. History since my last entry:

mid-May to mid-July - program hopping, stagnation, frustration. Also started feeling too soft and decided to drop some weight
mid-July to early October - decided to do a short, easy cut and run The Bridge to try BBM style programming. This went well. Dropped from ~185 and ~17% bodyfat to ~172 and ~14% body fat. Lost a solid 2" off my waist and my conditioning improved noticeably. ERM for Squat went down ~20lb, bench and press dropped 5-10, deadlift improved.
late October - Caught the Flu. Lost a couple more pounds and didn't train at all. Felt very weak. :(
November to present - have been running my own program based on what I took away from The Bridge. Making slow, non-linear, but consistent progress and enjoying training. Doing a very slow, lean bulk.

The Bridge was a really helpful program, even if I don't think BBM style programming is quite right for me. The huge positives were learning about using RPE to set loads and understanding "stress dosing". It helped me get away from what I think of as the "SS/testing/PR mentality" (going for a PR every session) and into a more long-term, patient mentality, where I stick to my RPE prescription and take what's there. I bought a couple other BBM programs, but ultimately decided I felt like I wanted to try taking what I'd learned on The Bridge and program for myself. I wasn't a fan of all the variations in BBM. I didn't find things like rack pulls or paused variations particularly helpful. Tempo squats were pure torture and also didn't seem to add any value. So this is what I ended up with:

Current programming
Day 1 (usually Sunday, but this gets adjusted regularly because of life stuff)
Squat 1@8; 3-5 sets x 5 reps @8
Bench 4-6 sets x 5 reps @8
Deadlift 3-4 sets x 4 reps @7

Day 2
20-30 min conditioning
chins/pullups (7 min density block)
curls (3x10)

Day 3
Pin squat 4x4@8
Press 5-6 sets x 6 reps @8
SGDL 3-4 sets x 6 reps @7
CGBP 3-4 sets x 8 reps @ 8

Day 4
20-30 min conditioning
rows (7 min density block)
curls (3x10)

Day 5
Deadlift 1@8; 3-5 sets x 5 reps @8
Bench 1@8; 5-6 sets x 5 reps @ 8
Squat 3-5 sets x 4 reps @7

Day 6
Off

Day 7
Dips
Chins
Tricep Pressdowns
EZ curls
Overhead tricep extensions
DB Curls

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Re: Griff's Journal

#10

Post by Wilhelm » Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:36 pm

Looks good, @Griff

It's great you're doing your own programming.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#11

Post by Griff » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:50 am

Thanks, Wilhelm!

Decent session last night considering the circumstances. I picked up a small, but persistent cold about a week ago. I thought I was finally over it but yesterday afternoon had a little coughing fit and started feeling run down again late in the afternoon. Got home at a decent hour, but the kids took a long time getting to bed, so I didn't make it out to the garage until 9:10. Thought about skipping/delaying, but that would screw up the rest of the week. So took it relatively easy, but got a decent session in.

12/11/18
AM bodyweight: 175.0; 14% bf

9:10-10:10pm
Pin Squat
185x4 @7; 195x4rx3s @8
Press
95x6 @7; 100x6x4@7.5-8
SGDL
185x6 @6; 205x6x3 @7
CGBP
135x8 @7; 140x8x2 @7.5-8

Nothing impressive or noteworthy. Got a quick dinner, showered and managed to be in bed by 11. Slept reasonably well. Feeling mostly better today. Plan to do some easy cardio, rows and curls tonight and hopefully to bed early and feeling 100% tomorrow.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#12

Post by Griff » Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:30 am

Quick conditioning and accessory session last night.

12/12/18
7-min block of BB Rows - 135x6x6
BB Curls 55x10x4
20 min on the spin bike at moderate intensity

12/13/18
AM Bodyweight: 173.2; 14.5% bf; waist measurement 34.25"

Happy with the waist measurement. Its the same as it was at my lowest body weight (post cut and post flu). Based on the impedance scale and mirror I'd say my bodyfat levels are the same too, despite being 5lb heavier. Most of that is probably food/water/glycogen, but my strength levels have also returned to pre-cut levels or better (at 10lb lighter bodyweight). Will continue to try to gain very slowly for as long as possible.

Didn't get to bed until 11:30 last night, but feeling good today. Looking forward to tonight's session.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#13

Post by Griff » Fri Dec 14, 2018 7:18 am

12/13/18
9:35-10:40pm
Deadlift
345x1@8.5; 275x5x3@7-8
Bench
205x1@7.5; 225x1@10; 185x5@9; 175x5x3@8
Squat
185x4@6; 205x4x4@7

I'd been feeling really good in the morning and felt like I was going to end up hitting a deadlift PR at 355 for my set of 1@8. But after a long, stressful day at work, and a late start getting out to work out I was pretty drained. 345 was good choice. Still only 5lb off my PR and pretty good considering how tired I felt. Deadlift volume work was easy.

Going for 225 on bench was kind of stupid, but it had been a long time since I'd benched two plates. It was slow, but clean. The right call after 205 felt too easy would have been 215, but oh well.

Didn't get into bed until almost midnight. Tired today, and this weekend is going to be busy. Need more sleep.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#14

Post by Griff » Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:04 pm

Spent the whole weekend on painting our house, but made it back to the gym last night. Pretty decent session considering I worked too much and ate way too little all weekend.

12/17/18 - 9:20-10:30pm
Squat - 285x1 @8; 235x5x3@7; 240x5 @8
Notes: Wanted to do better than 285 for the single, but it was a solid 8, so it was the right call stopping there. Volume work was fast and easy.
Bench - 155x5 @6; 165x5@7; 175x5x3@8, 7, 7; 185x5@8.5
Notes: realized after the first set at 175 that I've been lazy about lowering the weight--after that imagined basically "rowing" the weight down to my chest. This really helped--subsequent sets felt much easier and ended up bumping up to 185 for the last set
Deadlift - 275x4x4 @7-8
Notes: forgot to use chalk. Grip was fine on set 1, but nearly failed and ripped a callous on set 2 so used straps for the final 2 sets. Pretty tired at this point.

Got to bed way too late as usual.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#15

Post by Griff » Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:33 am

12/18/18
7 minute block of Ring Pullups bw x 8, 6, 5, 5, 5
BB curls 55x10, 10, 8, 8
25 min spin bike

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Re: Griff's Journal

#16

Post by Griff » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:47 am

12/19/18
8:55-10:10pm
Pin Squat - 185x4x4 @8
Press - 95x6x3 @8, 7, 7; 105x6x2 @8
SGDL - 185x6 @6; 205x6x2 @7; 215x6 @8
CGBP - 135x8 @6; 145x8x3@7

Notes: I expected to go heavier on pin squats, but I was a little sore and 185 felt heavy. Everything else felt good, and I generally bumped the weights a little more than expected.

My plan through the holidays is to do accessories/cardio tonight; strength work Friday; arm day Saturday; accessories/cardio Sunday; and mock meet Monday to set some new year end maxes (and hopefully PRs) before traveling on Christmas day.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#17

Post by Wilhelm » Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:34 am

Much success to you monday, @Griff! \o/

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Re: Griff's Journal

#18

Post by Griff » Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:34 am

Thanks, @Wilhelm! Due to some schedule stuff I'm thinking I'll max out by replacing the usual 1@8 with 1@9.5-10 tonight (DL and bench) and Monday (squat) rather than doing a mock meet.

Really short "accessories" session last night:
12/20/18
BB Curls 65x10, 8, 7, 5

That's it. My car had a rough day* yesterday and so I ended up working on it quite a bit. By the time I was done it was late enough that I skipped rows and cardio and just did curls.

* I work in downtown Houston and park in a crowded garage. Besides constant door dings, my parked car has been backed or rammed into twice--hard enough to leave significant (3"+ deep) dents in the bumpers/fenders (plus a smashed tail light). Well yesterday was the third time. I'd backed my car into a spot and I came out to discover that someone had (presumably) not been looking as they backed out and had crunched my front, drivers' side bumper in badly--~6" deep. No note or anything (no one has ever left a note). Luckily their bumper was low enough that it didn't break my headlight. I've dealt with this twice before, so I know security doesn't have cameras and pursuing it will just eat up an hour of my time. So then, after some cursing...

I head out to drive across downtown for a holiday happy hour. The wind was gusting wildly--probably up to 30-40mph. As I was driving through an intersection, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. As I turned, a large, plastic construction sign smashed into the A-pillar of my car and OBLITERATED my driver's side mirror. The sign bounced off and went flying away harmlessly (or possibly killed a pedestrian). I pulled over and the valet at a hotel around the corner was nice enough to let me park my post-apocalyptic-looking car in the valet line while I took pictures and went to look for where the sign could have come from. Couldn't find the sign, but I think I figured it out, so now I've just got to harass the construction company for not securing their signs... Good times.

When I got home I ended up spending most of the evening tearing apart my door panel, figuring out which replacement mirror assembly to order, tying to pop out the crushed bumper, etc. That counts as cardio, probably.

12/21/18
AM body weight: 174.2; 14.3% bf

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Re: Griff's Journal

#19

Post by Griff » Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:10 pm

Some highlights over the holidays:

12/21/18
3:30-4:45 pm
Deadlift - 365x1@9 (PR +15); 385xF; backoff volume
Notes: 365 was smooth and I'm confident I would have had 375. Decided to go for 385 and broke it about 2" off the floor for a couple seconds before failing.
Bench - 220x1@9; 230x1@10 (PR+5); backoff volume
Notes: 230 was insanely slow, but a very clean rep
Squat - easy sets

12/24/18
2:00-3:15 pm
Squat - 285x1@8; 305x1@9.5 (PR +10); backoff sets of 5 at 245, 235x2, 225
Notes: really wanted to try for 315, but pretty sure it wasn't there. Towards the end of my backoff sets I realized I was bending over too much on all my previous sets. I've been experimenting with staying (slightly) more upright and feel stronger--like I can use my quads more rather than my back being the limiting factor. Maybe 315 would have been there if I'd stayed more upright on my singles.
Bench and Deadlift - easy volume work

Traveling for Christmas-12/29. No workouts except carrying my kids all around Southern California. I ended up standing a few feet from Larry Wheels waiting for the Haunted Mansion ride to start at Disneyland. He's impressive--taller than I expected, too. Seemed like a really nice guy. Kind of wish I'd asked for a pic, but he was with someone. I also saw Slash from GnR as we were leaving Splash Mountain. So that was cool too.

Somehow whenever I travel I manage to eat too much and not enough. I always come back lighter but feeling fatter. Bodyweight down to 172.6 :|

12/30/18
Deadlift - 315x1@8; 265x5x3
Bench - 200x1@8; 165x6x4
Squat 205x4x2; 225x4
Notes: pretty fatigued from traveling so took it easy

1/1/19
HBBS - 165x8x3
Military press - 95x8, 8, 8, 5
Sumo DL - 225x6x3
CGBP - 150x8x3
Notes: decided to change things up for my "variations" day and sub in HBBS and Sumo DL for my previous pin squats and SGDL. I think I'll continue to vary the movements on this day every few months. Also generally bumped up the rep ranges.

2019 goals:
Main goal is to stay consistent and healthy and NOT backtrack.
In terms of numbers I'd like to finish the year with (e)1RM's* of at least 365/260/425 on S/B/D. That would be +60 on S/D and +30 on bench. Bodyweight up to 180-185 at similar leanness. Seems reasonable, barring any major setbacks.

*leaning against doing any testing above RPE9 in the foreseeable future. Its fun, but I think without any competitive aspirations the risk outweighs the benefits. Hitting something like 345/250/405@~9 would be fine with me.

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Re: Griff's Journal

#20

Post by Wilhelm » Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:12 pm

Nice PRs there, @Griff!

Good lifting to you in 2019.

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