Bolder's Training Log

[Bolder]

31/3/24

Okay started the routine (but with slight modification).

My triceps were already toasted from the 6 sets of bench (3 of those sets to failure) and I didn't decide to do another chest exercise (that was enough stimulus for my chest as I was very fatigued). Didn't even finished the last two prescribed sets. Decided to do OHPs because my chest and triceps were already toasted, and I couldn't press much overhead (obviously since the bench press and overhead press use similar muscles). I also experimented with different tricep exercises (may try to experiment more with other tricep exercises next time, like the machines. I did mess around with the cables, it was sort of meh. Got a better tricep pump with the dumbbells lol). Basically all free-weights, no machines (planned to do machine chest presses, but that was enough for today lol).

As for today's session:

Bench Press, touch and go:
105kg x 8
105kg x 5
105kg x 5
92.5kg x 8
92.5kg x 7
92.5kg x 7

Overhead Press, strict:
40kg x 7
40kg x 6
40kg x 5

DB Lying Tricep Extensions:
10kg x F
10kg x F

DB Overhead Tricep Extensions:
5kg x F
5kg x F

[Bolder]

2/4/24

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps and grip work:
180kg x 1 (Smooth)
191kg x 0 (Tried again this week, budged off the floor a bit)
162.5kg x 1
162.5kg x 1
162.5kg x 1
162.5kg x 1
105kg x 20 second hold (double overhand w/o straps)
20kg x 20 second hold each hand (plate pinch)
Captain crush with the clipper x 5 (five second holds each rep)

Barbell Row:
70kg x 8
70kg x 6 (both sets done with now straps)

Assisted Pull-Ups:
-68kg x 6
-68kg x 4

DB Preacher Curls:
7.5kg x 8
7.5kg x 6
7.5kg x 4
7.5kg x 6 (hammer/neutral grip)
7.5kg x 5 (hammer/neutral grip)
7.5kg x 4 (hammer/neutral grip)

[Bolder]

4/4/24

Squats, high-bar and beltness:
160kg x 1
145kg x 2
145kg x 2

Leg Extension:
42.5kg x 11
50kg x 8

Leg Curls:
65kg x 6
65kg x 5

Calf Raises:
80kg x 9
80kg x 8 + 30 second isometric hold

Then I played around with doing some leg presses.

I have some knee pain, and the gym was pretty packed.

[Bolder]

6/4/24

Bench Press, touch and go:
111kg x 6
111kg x 3
111kg x 3
98.5kg x 6
98.5kg x 6
98.5kg x 7

Overhead Press, strict:
45kg x 6
45kg x 6
45kg x 5

Mystery Tricep Extensions #1:
6.25kg x F
6.25kg x F

Mystery Tricep Extensions #2:
39kg x F
39kg x F

[Clearwater47]

Oooh, mystery exercises! You're just going to leave us hanging, with no explanation of what these are???

[Bolder]

Oooh, mystery exercises! You're just going to leave us hanging, with no explanation of what these are???

Lol, alright.

Mystery Tricep Extensions #1 = cross-body tricep pushdowns

Mystery Tricep Extensions #2 = tricep extension machine

[Bolder]

8/4/24

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps and grip work:
185kg x 0 (failed)

I did some machine rows, lat pulldowns, preacher curls, and hammer curls. I couldn't be bothered doing free-weight work. Gym was packed.

I don't know if this routine is good for my deadlifts (probably exhausted my deadlift gains from the Damien Pezzuti protocol and the many singles I've been doing...). Next time, I should only do singles/peaking block for 4-6 weeks, not 7-8 weeks lol (and also of course, it would be better for my patella tendons since I'm facing a bit of knee pain at the moment). I think I may switch to doing volume and submaximal work for deadlift, but perhaps not too soon since I need to finish the Nuckols 1x Beg Bench routine...

I'm kind of annoyed with how deadlifts are going (probably the most frustrating lift out of the three, lol); I probably need a little more frequent deadlifting, but then again, that may interfere with my other lifts. However, right now, I care more about the bench press than the squats and deadlifts.

I just suck at deadlifts, but regardless, I'll keep doing them, and perhaps I'll just see them as a builder exercise rather than a 'strength' or 'testing/maxout' exercise lol. I'm already thinking about returning to doing SBD lifts every other day or maybe almost every day (I've done a routine like that early this year). Also, that really built up my squats and deadlifts for the long peaking block I was in, had a bit of a success in, and, to a lesser extent, my bench press (that was the high-frequency 5x SBD Greg Nuckol's routine. Perhaps next time I'll throw in AMRAP sets at the last set to keep the intensity higher for my bench press. The last time I ran, it wasn't really good for my bench press, lol).

I also just don't like doing bodybuilding work (like doing four or even two exercises for the same bodypart, I just simply prefer doing one big lift per bodypart lol). I simply just like doing the basic lifts like squats, bench, deadlift, ohp, chin-ups, and nothing more, and that's all.

I think right now, for deadlifts, I'll work up to one heavy set of fives and see where I'll go.

[Clearwater47]

If you're not focused on Bodybuilding then there's really no need to do much more than the basic lifts you mentioned. They'll give pretty good hypertrophy just on their own (obviously assuming your intensity, frequency, recovery, etc. are on point).
I'm a big proponent of just doing what you enjoy to a large extent, but there's certainly some value in doing a compound lift like Deadlifts even when the payoff isn't really there for you.

And recontextualizing that lift in the way you proposed seems like a good, beneficial approach. Funnily enough, Deads are the only one of the 'big 3' that I'm any good at and I need to put my ego in check and stay focused on the overall impact provided when doing Squats and Bench. Bench isn't too bad because I at least kind of enjoy the lift, but squats are another story. One thing I've found helpful there is to find variations of the main lift that I enjoy and can progress on. Helps me kind of disconnect from the fact that I'm weak as F, and just focus on trying to steadily improve. That might be something you find helpful too?

[DCR]

I just suck at deadlifts, but regardless, I'll keep doing them, and perhaps I'll just see them as a builder exercise rather than a 'strength' or 'testing/maxout' exercise lol.

Deadlifting in my main gym isn't practical or appealing (no chalk, no jack). That annoyed me until it occurred to me that there isn't a damn thing that DLs ever did for me that RDLs don't do better. If at some point I ever pull from the floor again, it'll be deficits for reps, a "builder" and not a "tester" just as you say.

[Bolder]

If you're not focused on Bodybuilding then there's really no need to do much more than the basic lifts you mentioned. They'll give pretty good hypertrophy just on their own (obviously assuming your intensity, frequency, recovery, etc. are on point).
I'm a big proponent of just doing what you enjoy to a large extent, but there's certainly some value in doing a compound lift like Deadlifts even when the payoff isn't really there for you.

And recontextualizing that lift in the way you proposed seems like a good, beneficial approach. Funnily enough, Deads are the only one of the 'big 3' that I'm any good at and I need to put my ego in check and stay focused on the overall impact provided when doing Squats and Bench. Bench isn't too bad because I at least kind of enjoy the lift, but squats are another story. One thing I've found helpful there is to find variations of the main lift that I enjoy and can progress on. Helps me kind of disconnect from the fact that I'm weak as F, and just focus on trying to steadily improve. That might be something you find helpful too?

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, and thanks for the heads up. However, I guess we may share a similar experience in terms of dabbling with the frequency of the mainlifts. Doing them more frequently just seems to result in hurt, pain, or injury. Then again I'm a little cautious doing them frequently, especially the squats, which causes elbow and knee pain. I may switch to doing volume and submaximal work soon. Well, I re-assess after I finish this Nuckol's bench routine. The bench at the moment is feeling good. I want to see if I can get 135kg/297lb on the bench from benching almost 1x a week. Trying to chase a 143.5kg/316lb bench press (I may have to yolo it, if things don't go the right direction).

I've seen some of your lifting vids. You do seem like a tall(er) fella, so squats would be more awkward because the ROM on that would be really long for you. I'd say the squats seem to be more or so for the shorter man, or unless if you're superheavyweight (which would be inconvenient for everyday life).

I just suck at deadlifts, but regardless, I'll keep doing them, and perhaps I'll just see them as a builder exercise rather than a 'strength' or 'testing/maxout' exercise lol.

Deadlifting in my main gym isn't practical or appealing (no chalk, no jack). That annoyed me until it occurred to me that there isn't a damn thing that DLs ever did for me that RDLs don't do better. If at some point I ever pull from the floor again, it'll be deficits for reps, a "builder" and not a "tester" just as you say.

Oh yeah, chalk and using the deadlift jack would be helpful. Well, it's a bummer that your gym doesn't have them. However, I don't have any chalk, but my gym does have those deadlift jacks. They definitely save a lot of energy. Also, the thing is that the deadlift and the squats tend to of course, interfere with each other. I don't know the benefits of deadlifts either other than perhaps strengthening your back (well you can get that from other exercises) and strengthening your grip, hitting the sort of opposite muscle groups to the squats(?) and that's all.

[Clearwater47]

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, and thanks for the heads up. However, I guess we may share a similar experience in terms of dabbling with the frequency of the mainlifts. Doing them more frequently just seems to result in hurt, pain, or injury. Then again I'm a little cautious doing them frequently, especially the squats, which causes elbow and knee pain. I may switch to doing volume and submaximal work soon. Well, I re-assess after I finish this Nuckol's bench routine. The bench at the moment is feeling good. I want to see if I can get 135kg/297lb on the bench from benching almost 1x a week. Trying to chase a 143.5kg/316lb bench press (I may have to yolo it, if things don't go the right direction).

I've seen some of your lifting vids. You do seem like a tall(er) fella, so squats would be more awkward because the ROM on that would be really long for you. I'd say the squats seem to be more or so for the shorter man, or unless if you're superheavyweight (which would be inconvenient for everyday life).

Yes, I'm VERY tall, in my own mind, lol. I stand a little over 5 foot 5 inches tall. I guess I've figured out the right angles to make myself look taller than I actually am. I just have long femurs and long arms relative to the rest of my body. But it's pretty near impossible for someone to have good leverages for all of the big 3, so we all have our challenges to deal with.

I have the a fair amount of experience with doing high frequency on the main lifts. I can handle it pretty well except when I do something idiotic like max out 28 out of 30 days in a month, lmao! But high volume is what really causes me pain. My programming has steadily shifted towards higher frequency and intensity, combined with lower volume. I suspect if I went the other way and did higher volume with lower intensity and frequency I could probably handle that too. But there definitely needs to be a healthy balance to keep the body from breaking down.

[Bolder]

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, and thanks for the heads up. However, I guess we may share a similar experience in terms of dabbling with the frequency of the mainlifts. Doing them more frequently just seems to result in hurt, pain, or injury. Then again I'm a little cautious doing them frequently, especially the squats, which causes elbow and knee pain. I may switch to doing volume and submaximal work soon. Well, I re-assess after I finish this Nuckol's bench routine. The bench at the moment is feeling good. I want to see if I can get 135kg/297lb on the bench from benching almost 1x a week. Trying to chase a 143.5kg/316lb bench press (I may have to yolo it, if things don't go the right direction).

I've seen some of your lifting vids. You do seem like a tall(er) fella, so squats would be more awkward because the ROM on that would be really long for you. I'd say the squats seem to be more or so for the shorter man, or unless if you're superheavyweight (which would be inconvenient for everyday life).

Yes, I'm VERY tall, in my own mind, lol. I stand a little over 5 foot 5 inches tall. I guess I've figured out the right angles to make myself look taller than I actually am. I just have long femurs and long arms relative to the rest of my body. But it's pretty near impossible for someone to have good leverages for all of the big 3, so we all have our challenges to deal with.

I have the a fair amount of experience with doing high frequency on the main lifts. I can handle it pretty well except when I do something idiotic like max out 28 out of 30 days in a month, lmao! But high volume is what really causes me pain. My programming has steadily shifted towards higher frequency and intensity, combined with lower volume. I suspect if I went the other way and did higher volume with lower intensity and frequency I could probably handle that too. But there definitely needs to be a healthy balance to keep the body from breaking down.

Well, damn. I thought you were a tall guy.

I remember listening to Barbell Medicine with Jordan Feigenbaum and Austin Baraki they say that there's a correlation between loads and pain/injuries. Greg Nuckols tends to say that it's more related to fatigue, but however that was a while ago, perhaps their views changed.

Interesting experience you have there.

I'm already dabbling with the thought of moving towards a higher-frequency routine, but staying away from failure (mostly for my squats and deadlifts). But, however, the intensity will kept up for my bench press.

[Bolder]

10/4/24

Squats, high-bar and beltless:
171kg x 0 (failed)

Well, strange. I felt good, and all of the squat warm-up weights flew up, especially the 140kg.

Then I did some leg presses, leg extensions, and calf raises. I almost maxed out the leg press machine for a couple of reps, lol... Going to do single leg work instead (better for my knees anyway). I wore a patella tendon strap (that helped a bit), but when I took it off, there was some pain, but it wasn't that bad.

I forgot about doing wall-sits (should start doing them, they're good for the knees).

Already miss doing almost daily SBD lifts lol.

Can't wait for the bench session soon, this coming Friday, and then next Thursday I get to max out my bench press (judgement day). However, likely I'll switch the routine.

[MailmanMuscle]

Did you do any more warmups after 140kg?

[Bolder]

Did you do any more warmups after 140kg?

Nope, I jumped from 140kg to 171kg lol.

[MailmanMuscle]

That’s a big jump. That’s at least double the jump I would typically make from my last squat warmup to my opener at a powerlifting competition.

[Bolder]

That’s a big jump. That’s at least double the jump I would typically make from my last squat warmup to my opener at a powerlifting competition.

Indeed. Sometimes I take smaller jumps, but sometimes I feel like I waste too much energy.

[Bolder]

6/4/24

Bench Press, touch and go:
118.5kg x 5 (PR...?)
118.5kg x 1
118.5kg x 1
105kg x 5
105kg x 5
105kg x 5

Overhead Press, strict:
50kg x 6
50kg x 5
50kg x 5

Mystery Tricep Extensions #1:
8.75kg x 9
8.75kg x 8

Mystery Tricep Extensions #2:
46kg x 7
46kg x 7

Overall, a good session, though I did experience some elbow pain, and I did some wrist curls between overhead presses (but may shift them towards supersetting them with my triceps work, next time). Anyway, for the bench press, I felt good, but my right foot slipped on the last rep, and I was thinking maybe I could've gotten the sixth rep with the top set of 118.5kg/260.7lb on the bench press. Then, as I got into the later sets, I realized that I had this plastic thing under my shoe (that was making me slip and when I took it off, my feet stopped slipping lol).

It seems like a once-a-week bench press (hammering with AMRAPS, doing volume work, and accessory work) is better for me than three times a week bench pressing? Which seems quite strange, lol. Typically, people who bench more frequently tend to get better, but strangely, not for me. It may seem like bodybuilding-esque or style-specific training is better for my bench press. However, my squats and deadlifts tend to respond better to more frequency lol.

I may move forward with this style of training into the future, depending on whether I get a decent bench 1RM out of it (next Thursday). I do want to do high-frequency SBD training (perhaps for cutting if I continue to succeed with this type of training for bench press), but at the moment, I just care more about the bench press than the squats and deadlifts. However, it seems like I have to find a way to juggle my squats and deadlifts (maybe I have to change to a different programming suited for once-a-week squats and deadlifts). I'm thinking of doing the 1x Beg templates for my squats and deadlifts if the bench 1RM next Thursday goes well).

[DCR]

It seems like a once-a-week bench press (hammering with AMRAPS, doing volume work, and accessory work) is better for me than three times a week bench pressing? Which seems quite strange, lol. Typically, people who bench more frequently tend to get better, but strangely, not for me. It may seem like bodybuilding-esque or style-specific training is better for my bench press. However, my squats and deadlifts tend to respond better to more frequency lol.

Same. My best bench progress of the past few years came benching every eight days, with a variation on the fourth day in between (at the time, very heavy low incline DB bench press). On the other hand, if I don’t squat for even a few days, it feels like I’ve never done the movement before in my life.

[Bolder]

It seems like a once-a-week bench press (hammering with AMRAPS, doing volume work, and accessory work) is better for me than three times a week bench pressing? Which seems quite strange, lol. Typically, people who bench more frequently tend to get better, but strangely, not for me. It may seem like bodybuilding-esque or style-specific training is better for my bench press. However, my squats and deadlifts tend to respond better to more frequency lol.

Same. My best bench progress of the past few years came benching every eight days, with a variation on the fourth day in between (at the time, very heavy low incline DB bench press). On the other hand, if I don’t squat for even a few days, it feels like I’ve never done the movement before in my life.

Yeah, I think because you need to make room to do the accessories for the bench press. The bench press out of the three probably requires the most accessory work because it uses smaller muscles. It's hard to do just the bench press for the sake of bench pressing and expect to make strength gains out of it (some guys can get away with it. I tried doing that for some months when I rejoined the gym and then stopped recently). The only lifts you can get away with it are mostly squats and deadlifts because they use larger muscles anyway. The best bench presser in the world does his accessories and is quite vocal about it.

I too, similarly, also benefited from having a secondary bench day like a close-grip bench press.

Yeah, I also feel like the squats need frequency to keep up the technical proficiency of the movement, or not squatting for a while makes you feel like you're squatting on stilts lol. Anyway, I don't understand how some guys can squat once every other week or twice a month and still make gains on the squats?