Platypus lifts/reads

[platypus]

3/19/24 - max effort lower

High bar 12" box squat	225x5
#2 rack pull	225x5
HBB GHR	BWx3x2 BWxF
KB swing	44 x 70 in 3 mins

Notes:
- Went quite light on everything today.

- It is now day 6 sans food. In my previous fasting experience, hunger pangs left after day 5, and so far this is holding true. My coordination is a little bit off, but other than that I'm feeling pretty alert and ready to tackle the day.

- My right wrist, which sustained a repetitive stress injury while working 50+ hours a week in a factory last summer, decided to act up for the first time in several months. And I have pain this morning in my right shoulder after waking up on my stomach with my right arm smashed underneath my torso. I don't think either of these issues are caused by the fast, but it's unfortunate timing. Neither one is limiting my ROM or ability to grasp things at this moment, so I'm still a hell of a lot better off than I was last summer.

- I have also found myself drawn to reading On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee and The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. Perhaps it's my innate desire to eat coming out.

You can look, you just can't touch

For real! My sense of smell has become quite heightened, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of my roommate cooking steak and eggs yesterday.

[platypus]

3/21/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	145x5x5
Press	135x3 95x8 95x7
Aussie pullup	BWx15, 8, 7
EZ curl	65x13rp

Notes:
- My press remains in hades. I remind myself that I'm down 30lbs of bodyweight from my PR press in December, but this feels like cope. Because it is.

- My buddy that issued the fasting challenge broke down and ate yesterday morning, so I emerged victorious. I waited till supper to eat so that I'd get a full week of fasting in, then I chowed down all but one slice of a Little Caesar's deep dish along with a bowl of peanut butter mixed with chocolate whey. It seems my appetite has not suffered any ill effects. I could feel my body heating up in the aftermath.

Here's the stats:
Day 1
223.5lbs, 40.5" waist

Day 7
211.8lbs, 39.4" waist

Day 8 (morning after refeed)
212lbs, 39.4" waist

[Clearwater47]

Nice! Congrats on the 'victory', lol.

[EricK]

For real! My sense of smell has become quite heightened, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of my roommate cooking steak and eggs yesterday.

To be fair, it's an objectively pleasant smell...

[hector]

No idea if a week fast is healthy (though autophagy sounds great), but I salute your willpower.

[platypus]

3/22/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	250x2 185x1- not really DE
Air squat	x many
DE deadlift	255x2x5
HKR	20x6x3
Burpee	BWx21 in 2 mins

Notes:
- On my last warmup for DE squats, my left knee didn't feel quite right. I foolishly went right ahead to the work sets, and felt pain. I tried backing down to 185 for a slow set, and it hurt too. So I ditched the barbell and did a bunch of air squats, which did not hurt at all, to get the blood flowing through the area. I've never had something like this happen on squats, so I'll chalk it up to the absence of nutrition this last week.

[platypus]

Nice! Congrats on the 'victory', lol.

Thank you!

For real! My sense of smell has become quite heightened, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of my roommate cooking steak and eggs yesterday.

To be fair, it's an objectively pleasant smell...

It really is. The downside to the heightened sense of smell was using public restrooms. And the night I used tiger balm on my shoulder, the smell was so overpowering that it kept me awake.

No idea if a week fast is healthy (though autophagy sounds great), but I salute your willpower.

Thank you! In terms of willpower, it wasn't that bad. As long as I stayed busy, the hunger was pretty manageable. In that sense, it was much easier than forcefeeding is.

I'm not sure about the health of it. My resting heart rate wasn't concerning at any point, and I didn't get sick. My metabolism was definitely slowed down (harder to stay warm in the snow and no libido), but all was back to normal after a meal and a good night's sleep.

I don't expect any negative effect other than a couple weeks of less-than-desirable weightroom performance. I suspect though, that in terms of health benefits there's a serious rate of diminishing returns as the fast goes on and the body adjusts to it. And for lifting purposes, more than a day or two isn't worth the performance trade off.

[DCR]

Congrats, @platypus. Winning is winning.

[platypus]

3/23/24

Press	97.5x8x3
High bar squat	135x8x3

3/25/24 - Repetition effort upper

Press	100x8x3
Chinup	BWx28 in 10 mins
Pushup	BWx46 in 10 mins
Pullapart	Green x 28rp

Notes:
- Feeling compelled to do something about presses. Today they actually felt easier than they have in several weeks.

[platypus]

3/26/24 - max effort lower

SSB squat	300x1 340x1 360x1
#2 rack pull

3/28/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	155x5x5
Press	145x5 135x4x2
Aussie pullup	BWx13, x8, x5x5, x4
EZ curl	67.5x12rp

3/29/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	270x5x5
DE deadlift	275x2x5
HKR	20x8, x5
HLR	BWx4
10 down	8:99

Notes:
- My press is coming back. One might even say it's resurrecting.
- Dumbbell hanging knee raises were getting pretty unwieldy, and I was delighted on Friday to realize that I can do hanging leg raises now with my legs straight. No need for dumbbells, I just need to work on adding ROM. Right now I'm lifting my legs to parallel.

[hector]

Glory be to your resurrected press!

How did you build up to the straight leg raise? I cannot do it, and don’t even know why I can’t. Did the knee raises help you build up to it?

[platypus]

4/1/24 - Repetition effort upper

Chinup	25 total
Pushup	50 total

4/3/24 - max effort lower

Squat	335x2@F 335x3 335x2
Snatch grip deadlift	375x1 335x2x2

Notes:
- Traveling for a funeral on Monday and took a cheap Spirit flight, my suit crammed into a "personal item" bag. No chance to lift so I just did some pushups and chinups at a park I passed.
- Today I intended to squat 80% for 3 sets of 5, but that didn't happen. I missed the 3rd rep on the 1st set not due to weakness, since I managed it on the second attempt. I think I'm just out of practice being in the hole with heavy weights. Right now I'm only really squatting heavy once every two weeks, and that's probably not enough.

[platypus]

How did you build up to the straight leg raise? I cannot do it, and don’t even know why I can’t. Did the knee raises help you build up to it?

I started with hanging knee raises in December and once I could do 3x5, I started adding dumbbell weight (like this guy, although I keep my knees squeezed together). Once I got to 20x8, I tried straight legs and found I could do it.

I used to do L sits and L chinups when I was into parkour, a decade ago and at a much lighter bodyweight, but that may have left me with some helpful muscle memory.

[platypus]

4/4/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	170x5x5
Press	147.5x4 135x4x2
Aussie pullup	BWx12, x6, x5

4/5/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	290x5x5
DE deadlift	300x2x5
HLR	BWx5, x4x2
Burpee	BWx19 in 1:00

Notes:
- A friend of mine texted me his 1rms a couple nights ago to ask if they were good: 315 squat, 205 bench, 225 deadlift. You're probably thinking the same thing as me: something's off.
I offered to show him how to squat and deadlift. He had a tendency to fall over backward in the squat as he approached the hole, which he had never come within a foot of before. But I managed to get him to do a few successful, just below parallel box squats with the bar.
Then we moved on to deadlifts. He was dropping his hips way down at the bottom, which shoved his shins forward and the bar over his toes. I got him to stop doing that, and he pulled a pristine 305 and could have done more.

[DCR]

A friend of mine texted me his 1rms a couple nights ago to ask if they were good: 315 squat, 205 bench, 225 deadlift. You're probably thinking the same thing as me: something's off.
I offered to show him how to squat and deadlift. He had a tendency to fall over backward in the squat as he approached the hole, which he had never come within a foot of before. But I managed to get him to do a few successful, just below parallel box squats with the bar.
Then we moved on to deadlifts. He was dropping his hips way down at the bottom, which shoved his shins forward and the bar over his toes. I got him to stop doing that, and he pulled a pristine 305 and could have done more.

You coached dude to an 80 lb PR. Folks have become youtube fitness celebrities over much less. Worth considering.

[hector]

4/4/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	170x5x5
Press	147.5x4 135x4x2
Aussie pullup	BWx12, x6, x5

4/5/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	290x5x5
DE deadlift	300x2x5
HLR	BWx5, x4x2
Burpee	BWx19 in 1:00

Notes:
- A friend of mine texted me his 1rms a couple nights ago to ask if they were good: 315 squat, 205 bench, 225 deadlift. You're probably thinking the same thing as me: something's off.
I offered to show him how to squat and deadlift. He had a tendency to fall over backward in the squat as he approached the hole, which he had never come within a foot of before. But I managed to get him to do a few successful, just below parallel box squats with the bar.
Then we moved on to deadlifts. He was dropping his hips way down at the bottom, which shoved his shins forward and the bar over his toes. I got him to stop doing that, and he pulled a pristine 305 and could have done more.

That’s some good coaching!

[hector]

A friend of mine texted me his 1rms a couple nights ago to ask if they were good: 315 squat, 205 bench, 225 deadlift. You're probably thinking the same thing as me: something's off.
I offered to show him how to squat and deadlift. He had a tendency to fall over backward in the squat as he approached the hole, which he had never come within a foot of before. But I managed to get him to do a few successful, just below parallel box squats with the bar.
Then we moved on to deadlifts. He was dropping his hips way down at the bottom, which shoved his shins forward and the bar over his toes. I got him to stop doing that, and he pulled a pristine 305 and could have done more.

You coached dude to an 80 lb PR. Folks have become youtube fitness celebrities over much less. Worth considering.

“Personal trainers hate him!”

[DCR]

A friend of mine texted me his 1rms a couple nights ago to ask if they were good: 315 squat, 205 bench, 225 deadlift. You're probably thinking the same thing as me: something's off.
I offered to show him how to squat and deadlift. He had a tendency to fall over backward in the squat as he approached the hole, which he had never come within a foot of before. But I managed to get him to do a few successful, just below parallel box squats with the bar.
Then we moved on to deadlifts. He was dropping his hips way down at the bottom, which shoved his shins forward and the bar over his toes. I got him to stop doing that, and he pulled a pristine 305 and could have done more.

You coached dude to an 80 lb PR. Folks have become youtube fitness celebrities over much less. Worth considering.

“Personal trainers hate him!”

Actual LOL

[Clearwater47]

That's awesome!

Been thinking about putting Box Squats back into my programming at some point because they're such a good tool for teaching/learning/reinforcing the movement pattern.

[DCR]

That's awesome!

Been thinking about putting Box Squats back into my programming at some point because they're such a good tool for teaching/learning/reinforcing the movement pattern.

It depends on the movement pattern for which one is looking. I think that use of a box - but not necessarily a "box squat" - can be a good tool to get someone to understand what depth is. However, the "box squat" as generally done trains a pattern that's great if one wants to squat back back! BACK! but much less so if one wants to squat in one's quads, where IMHO it ought to be. I've found that it also causes a lot of dudes to "reach" with their ass, leading to undesirable anterior pelvic tilt. That all said, I can see using it as a supplemental movement.