Fossil's Training Log

[Fossil]

Feeling a bit under the weather so didn't do much.
Was able to really build upon the new upper back ROM and increased mobility of my left shoulder; I'm able to move my left arm in ranges I never have before in my life. A good analogy would be you try and touch your toes but can't get your hands below your knees then a few days later you can put your palms flat on the floor.

Pressing will hopefully get those newly-opened positions stronger.

One Arm Press:
15 x 8 L/R
25 x 8 L/R
35 x 8 L/R

Farmers Walk:
35s x 1 minute

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Can really get some height on these jumps when I want to. Adding jump rope has, hands down, been the best change I've regarding fitness. I'm not the best by any stretch but I'm a lot springier on my feet and don't feel like I'm suffocating using a moderate pace. Also its a great way to get in forearm flexion - you have to actively flick the handles back to assist in turning the rope and almost right off your forearm extensors are on fire.

Pause Front Squat [~10 seconds]:
135 x 1
145 x 1
155 x 1

Front Squat:
165 x 20 in 12 minutes

Front rack feels way different. Much better than ever - left shoulder can actually protract now.
To give you some idea of how tight / weak that side was, the only way I could pinch my shoulder blades together was to lean into a doorway and manually force the left side to kinda sorta meet the right side. I used to religiously do seal rows for medium, high and low reps and well, there's a reason you see zero rowing in this training log. Before that I was a major fan of pull-ups and chin-ups but again, the left side could just internally rotate and spin in the socket to avoid going into external rotation. Now I can easily move my entire upper back.

[DCR]

Adding jump rope has, hands down, been the best change I've regarding fitness.

Jumping rope is awesome, the only “cardio” that I’ve ever been able to stand, and by far the most tolerable means of getting calves. (My knees hate most direct calf work.) Hadn’t done it in a long while, but was reading logs between sets just now and yours caused me to wonder whether this gym I joined yesterday had ropes. Yup, and nice Rogue ones too. I had the technique back immediately but didn’t last very long, to put it generously. No big - gotta start somewhere.

[Fossil]

Jumping rope is awesome, the only “cardio” that I’ve ever been able to stand

Same here - maybe besides running stairs, but jumping rope feels like it has way less wear and tear on the structures versus running or jogging.
And my technique isn't too great either; I can do the basics at a fast pace but usually after 10-15 seconds I'll mess up, but I really don't mind because it makes for a good pace with the harder intervals mixed in with the more steady jumps.

[Fossil]

Last evening:

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

1-Arm DB Clean & Press:
35 x 1 L/R
40 x 1 L/R
45 x 1 L/R
45 x 6 or 7 L/R in 3 minutes

Didn't plan on doing this but wanted to test out various grips to see what felt best on the left shoulder.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

If you're wondering why missing a digit would cause so many problems "downstream" (in relation to he joint) imagine taking a guitar, knocking off one of the tuning pegs then attaching your leftover string to another peg; now try and play a song normally. That's what I'm dealing with, only instead of guitar strings it's tendons and ligaments.

1-Arm DB Clean & Press:
30 x 1
40 x 1
50 x 4 L/R

I did like 15-20 more reps with the left side lol. Thumb-less grip is the only one that allows me to stack everything properly and not have my upper arm spin and push my shoulder into internal rotation.

Front Squat:
85 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 3

Kept things like and stopped them pretty short. Rack position felt extremely stable.
I'm doing a bit too much for how little I'm consuming but I don't want my left shoulder to tighten up again so I'm doing a ton of random lifting throughout the day which, of course, burns calories.

[Fossil]

Farmers Walk:
30lbs L/R 0.22 miles in 20 minutes

Goal is a mile in 20 minutes then up the weight and start again.

This was pretty fun.
I mean, it was absolutely hell on my left wrist flexors simply because the last two fingers never really get used to the degree they were today and I think I was gripping a little too far forward..
Shoulder feels awesome. Will be making this a thing from here on out - debated on adding farmers carries over the last few years and never really committed because of lack of space but with a step counter on my phone and enough clear space to do figure-8s I figured I might as well see how it goes.

Only issue is that I have no idea how accurate the iPhone step counter is - I took a screenshot of before and after of the app to track progress over the 20 minutes. Was hoping for at least a quarter mile but knew things were grim when my left wrist flexors started burning and basically didn't stop.
But hey, shoulder feels great - much better than doing any kind of mobility - and this gives me something to work towards as well as getting in more GPP. Looking forward to this next phase now that I can put more focus on one arm presses and front squats.

[DCR]

Only issue is that I have no idea how accurate the iPhone step counter is

I have no reason to believe that it’s not accurate, but what it often isn’t is current, and that’s an issue. Say you finish up at 6pm, and that the counter last updated at 5:56. Say it next updates at 6:07. You now have no idea what your steps were at 6pm.

[Fossil]

Only issue is that I have no idea how accurate the iPhone step counter is

I have no reason to believe that it’s not accurate, but what it often isn’t is current, and that’s an issue. Say you finish up at 6pm, and that the counter last updated at 5:56. Say it next updates at 6:07. You now have no idea what your steps were at 6pm.

@DCR
I did notice the delay a few weeks ago when I opened the Fitness app for the first time but that lag not recording potentially several minutes is something I hadn't even considered. Good to know.
Going to look into other apps and see if there's something with less delay / more accuracy.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press
15 x 5 L/R
20 x 5 L/R
25 x 5 L/R
30 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R

Probably misjudged the starting weight but I'd prefer to start too light and add a little more aggressively in following sessions than start too heavy - I have a bad habit of starting things way to heavy.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
85 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 5
165 x 5

Annoying pain in my left QL / psoas (where it attaches at the low back.)
Had this before many months ago and could never figure out why; I don't lean on presses but I think the cause is that when I press, I stick my arm way out and in line with my torso, which come to find out, causes me to slightly rotate and probably puts an enormous strain on the right hip at both attachment points since it's bearing weight and being pulled from both ends.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Did the five minutes nonstop. Wasn't that hard, but then again I wasn't pushing the pace. Not sure if that's a record for unbroken jumps but it's not common for me so it felt good to hit it so easily.

Farmers Walk:
30 x 1/4 mile in 20 minutes

Realized my goal of a mile was a bit overzealous given the space I'm working with.
Not a big deal though since my primary goal is to condition my grip and maintain strict posture; Making faster jumps in weight shouldn't be too big of a deal since my starting point is really low.
This distance felt really productive and I felt better afterwards.

I opted to ditch the pedometer apps and measure the space in which I'd be walking and divided that by my goal distance to give me a target number of laps. Since I'm not moving the entire time and don't wanna carry around my phone while I'm carrying weight, I figured a good old-fashioned tape measurer would give me the information I needed.

Having said this, I looked into some pedometer apps and one that seemed to be pretty accurate - at least more accurate than the iPhone, according to reviewers - was Pacer. I did some tests walking around my neighborhood and it seems reliable within a few steps.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press
20 x 5 L/R
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
50 x 3 L/R

Wasn't sure what I was going to ramp up to, but glad I picked the top weight. Felt really solid all around. Will keep the top weight until I hit 5 but I want to move up the previous couple of sets; you need a certain amount of weight to make the lift feel like the lift, if that makes sense.

[DCR]

I want to move up the previous couple of sets; you need a certain amount of weight to make the lift feel like the lift, if that makes sense.

It does. I’m pretty convinced that warming up with the bar and the like just fucks up the movement pattern, but I keep doing it because neurosis / resistance to change.

[Fossil]

I want to move up the previous couple of sets; you need a certain amount of weight to make the lift feel like the lift, if that makes sense.

It does. I’m pretty convinced that warming up with the bar and the like just fucks up the movement pattern, but I keep doing it because neurosis / resistance to change.

There was a period where I used the bar to warm up but it did very little for me only because forcing the stiffness that occurs under a heavier load felt really awkward to me and as you said, messed up the movement pattern. I will say it helps in getting the working areas warm... but so would "smaller" exercises that due to leverage, also create an automatic stiffness. I remember feeling more ready to OHP when I did a set of 10-12 thumbs-up laterals / "scaption" raises than when I did presses with the empty bar. Just my .02.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
85 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 4

Felt really good.
Went back to a 2-finger rack position because the trade off with using a full grip isn't worth it; the minor external rotation work at the expense of keeping my elbows higher in the bottom is something I'm willing to forgo, especially now that I'm doing farmers walks regularly and those hit my rotator cuff really well.
The whole uneven arm length / missing digit thing is also something that doesn't seem worth working around, if even possible at all.
Either way, the T-rex grip allows me to front squat without fighting any of the range of motion so I think it's a worthwhile trade in the long run.

[DCR]

There was a period where I used the bar to warm up but it did very little for me only because forcing the stiffness that occurs under a heavier load felt really awkward to me and asyou said, messed up the movement pattern. I will say it helps in getting the working areas warm... but so would "smaller" exercises that due to leverage, also create an automatic stiffness. I remember feeling more ready to OHP when I did a set of 10-12 thumbs-up laterals / "scaption" raises than when I did presses with the empty bar. Just my .02.

Reminiscent of the old bodybuilding technique of hitting the accessories first. Squatting after leg extensions and leg curls feels incredible.

[Fossil]

There was a period where I used the bar to warm up but it did very little for me only because forcing the stiffness that occurs under a heavier load felt really awkward to me and asyou said, messed up the movement pattern. I will say it helps in getting the working areas warm... but so would "smaller" exercises that due to leverage, also create an automatic stiffness. I remember feeling more ready to OHP when I did a set of 10-12 thumbs-up laterals / "scaption" raises than when I did presses with the empty bar. Just my .02.

Reminiscent of the old bodybuilding technique of hitting the accessories first. Squatting after leg extensions and leg curls feels incredible.

Those bodybuilders of yesteryear were onto something with that stuff; they obviously knew a few things about getting huge while avoiding injuries.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Got some mini farmers walk handles and gotta say they feel better than dumbbells. Finally came up with a game plan on the lifts I'm doing so keeping this at five sets for now and saving the distance/time sessions for later. Today was about testing the new handles and the 100m distance to see what kind of stimulus it would create.

Farmers Walk:
25 L/R x 100m
30 L/R x 100m
32.5 L/R x 100m
35 L/R x 100m
40 L/R x 65m

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
50 x 3 L/R