Bolder's Training Log

[Bolder]

Taking it easy with my knees. My knees actually feel better, but I need to squat away from the mirror.

Squat w/o Belt: 285 x 5 x 3 @ RPE 8 (knees felt terrible on the first, but got better on the second and third).
2ct Pause Bench: 210 x 5 @ 7.5, 6 @ 8, 5 @8 (accidently did an extra rep on the second set).
Deadlift w/o Belt: 330 x 5 x 1 @ RPE 8.5 (felt great).

[Bolder]

Monday did some squats, bench, and deadlift. Elbows started hurting.

Wednesday consisted of light squats, presses, and rows.

Friday (well yesterday) was... Squats w/o Belt: 315 x 5 x 3 @ RPE 9.5, then some light benching and deadlifts. Elbows were in some immense pain.

I'm reluctant on going back to doing high bar squats... as I'm nearly recovering from a knee injury... I don't want this elbow pain to lead into another injury and don't want the low bar squats to interfere with my benching. The only problem is that high bar squats could bring that patellar tendinopathy back, which I've been battling for a year... Honestly, I'm at a cross-road with it, and I don't want to give up on squatting (which could help with my deadlifts long-term).

I want to do the bridge, but however, I may need to do a lower frequency program with more accessories. Doing competition squats 3x times a week leaves too much of a strain on the body.

Also, my knees are okay, but I can't push squats on Monday (as my knees and elbows are aching), I'll try to do a heavy/light/medium split of pause squats, tempo squats, and well heavy squats. Midweek, well on Wednesday I'll do heavy squats, just to let my elbows, and knees to recover. Then the week afterwards I would commence the bridge. If the bridge doesn't work out, then I'll run Greg Nuckol's 1 x squatting, 1 x benching, and 1 x deadlifting program, and have a bunch of accessories (so I'll look into one of Paul Carter's go to movements for bodybuilding stuff). Although more frequency is better, so is keeping injury free.

[Bolder]

did some deadlifts, OHP, and rows today. gonna do some squats, bench, chins, and some arms tomorrow.

[Bolder]

Doing the bridge by barbell medicine hoping to run this for eight weeks, then do the endurance GPP template to help kick off the weight-loss, but I want to keep gaining a bit of strength for now...

Week 1, Day 1

I bought SBD wrist wraps hoping that the low-bar squats wouldn't hurt my elbow and had also worn a belt on that. Anyways, I realized that wearing a belt, that I tend to relax a little on the bottom of the squats, and that hurts my knees. I'll switch back to high-bar squats and save a bit of money for squat shoes, and knee sleeves... from now on, I'll do high bar squats despite having flat shoes.

Squat w/ Belt: 286 x 5 x 1 @ 8.5 (felt awful)
Closegrip Bench: 175 x 4 x 1 @ 5, 190 x 4 x 1 @ 7, 210 x 4 x 1 @ 8, 225 x 4 x 1 @ 9 (bench felt great despite the elbow hurting).
Midshin, Rackpull: 255 x 7 x 1 @ 6.5, 265 x 7 x 1 @ 7, 275 x 7 x 1 @ 7.5 (should've went a little heavier)

Gonna change gyms also since I have a job (making a bit of money) and gotta buy squat shoes next week.

Week 1, Day 2

2ct Paused Squats: 185 x 5 x 1 @ 5, 200 x 5 x 1 @6, 210 x 5 x 1 @6.5 (should've went heavier)
Press w/belt: 90 x 5 x 1 @5.5, 100 x 5 x 1 @6.5, 110 x 5 x 1 @7.5 (felt fine, gotta push them on, having long arms, this movement feels awkward)
Pendlay Rows: 130 x 8 x 1 @6.5, 140 x 8 x 1 @7.5, 155 x 8 x 2 @8.5

[Bolder]

I was huffing and puffing, my conditioning is terrible. I couldn't even fit into my old belt lol... was supposed to do deadlifts w/ belt.

Week 1, Day 3

Deadlifts w/o Belt: 320 x 5 x 1 @ 6, 330 x 5 x 1 @7.5, 335 x 5 x 1 @ 8 (having chalk made deadlifts felt great)
Bench Press, 1ct paused: 210 x 5 x 1 @ 6, 220 x 5 x 1 @ 8, 231 x 4 x 1 @10 (should've stuck with 220), 215 x 5 x 1 @9
3-0-3 Tempo Squats: lol... (I should myself harder)... 90 x 5 x 1 @ 5, 110 x 5 x 1 @5.5, 130 x 5 x 1 @6

Then walked for 20 something minutes.

Gonna do more conditioning next week, hopefully.

[Bolder]

Week 2, Day 1

Squat w/o Belt: 220 x 5 x 1 @ 5.5, 240 x 5 x 1 @ 6.5, 265 x 5 x 3 @ 7.5 (high bar, my knees hurted, gonna switch back to low bar)
Closegrip Bench: 175 x 4 x 1 @ 5, 190 x 4 x 1 @ 7, 210 x 4 x 1 @ 8, 220 x 4 x 2 @ 9
Midshin, Rackpull: 255 x 7 x 1 @ 6.5, 265 x 7 x 1 @ 7, 310 x 7 x 2 @ 7.5

Then some GPP

Week 2, Day 2

2ct Paused Squats: 185 x 4 x 1 @ 5, 200 x 4 x 1 @6, 200 x 4 x 3 @ 7
Press w/o belt: 90 x 5 x 1 @5.5, 100 x 5 x 1 @6.5, 105 x 3 x 1 @7.5
Pendlay Rows: 155 x 8 x 1 @ 8.5, 130 x 8 x 2 @ 7.5

Week 2, Day 3

Deadlifts w/o Belt: 320 x 5 x 1 @ 6, 325 x 5 x 1 @7.5, 330 x 5 x 3 @ 8
Bench Press, 1ct paused: 200 x 5 x 1 @6, 210 x 5 x 1 @7, 220 x 5 x 3 @ 9.5 (overshot my RPE)
3-0-3 Tempo Squats: 90 x 8 x 2 @ 4

Then walked for 20 something minutes.

[Bolder]

Week 3, Day 1

learnt how to use wrist wraps on squats and bench, elbows ain't hurting, which is good. Also tried my new squat shoes, felt much more stable, and my knees don't hurt that much more anymore. Back to squatting low bar.

Squat w/o Belt: 220 x 5 x 1 @ 6, 240 x 5 x 1 @ 7, 265 x 5 x 3 @8
Closegrip Bench: 165 x 4 x 1 @ 5, 185 x 4 x 1 @ 8, 215 x 4 x 2 @9
Midshin, Rackpull: 265 x 7 x 1 @ 6, 285 x 7 x 1 @ 7, 310 x 7 x 2 @ 8 (used a thicker bar)

then some chins (gonna include more arm work, next week). hopefully, i could do more conditioning soon.

All the lifts felt pretty heavy.

[Wilhelm]

I love my squat shoes.
For me, they are the best option.
Though they did throw me for a loop once the first few days i used them.

Glad they work well for you too.

[Bolder]

Stopped at week 6 of the bridge, needed to back-off a little because my knee was hurting, but still kept training. It doesn't hurt as used to before. Measured my waist and it's a little over 45 inches (which is a health scare, gotta bring it down).

Started the 7 Week Endurance Template by Barbell Medicine (bought the program yesterday and bought some protein powder today, yay). Anyways, trying to scrunch these three days back-to-back now. Also, I can't fit into my belt, so gonna be a lot of beltless work.

Gonna steal this log format from dcw - dexter (sorry, but I like it)

BBM 7 Week Endurance W1 D1
BW: ???
-
Squat w/o Belt:
220x5
255x5
285x5@8 x 1 set (stopped at one set knee started aching)
*I tend to take bigger jumps on squats, not too sure how to rate my fatigue/RPE, I even get fatigued at lighter weights (because my conditioning is off). Also, lesson learnt... I shouldn't squat inside a power rack with mirrors in front of it with a shitty flooring, maybe that's why my knees felt off. Gonna stick squatting outside of the rack, and avoid looking at the mirror.

-
Strict Press:
90x5
100x5
110x5@8 x 1 set

-
8min Assisted (-180) - Chin Up Density Block:
15,12,10,8 [45]

combined with a 500m row test (can't run, don't want to kill my knees)

500m Row Test - 4 min, 29 secs (pathetic)

BBM 7 Week Endurance W1 D2
BW: ???
-
Comp Dead:
320x5
330x5
340x5@7.5 x 2 sets (felt easy, could of bumped it to 355).

-
Floor Press:
130x8
155x8....
175x8@6.5 (surprisingly light, but pretty felt awkward)
*Elbows kinda hurted here...

-
Barbell Row 8min Density Block:
135 x 12,10,8 [30]
*pretty gassed, my conditioning is awful.

I love my squat shoes.
For me, they are the best option.
Though they did throw me for a loop once the first few days i used them.

Glad they work well for you too.

Sorry for the late reply!

Definitely, I feel much more stable in squat shoes, and my knees don't hurt as much as anymore.

But however, it feels a little too narrow for my feet. Maybe, because I use the Adipowers iii (cheap version).

[Bolder]

BBM 7 Week Endurance W1 D3
BW: ???
-
Comp Bench (TnG):
210x5@7
220x5@8.5 x 1 set
220x5@8 x 1 set

-
Supplment Squat (Squat w/o Belt):
220x8@6 x 1 set

-
Pull up 8min Density Block:
(-180) x 12,10, 9, 8 [30]

Next day on the 24th:

Did a 2km row test and got 12 mins, 14 secs...

Gonna do some squats, presses, and chins later today. Then conditioning tomorrow in the morning, then check my weight. May run an extra week (re-do the first week of the Endurance template as a pivot/deload week).

Goal right now is to lose weight.

After the Endurance Template, I'll do the 3 day strength template, but of course the 3 day version of it, not the 4 days. Since it's been recommended to run the strength template interchangeably with the Endurance Template.

[Bolder]

My knees are back to killing me... It was my right knee, this time it's my left knee... warming up to squats felt great, but my knees wanted to die as soon I got into doing my back-off sets.

BBM 7 Week Endurance W2 D1
BW: ???
-
Squat w/o Belt:
320x1@7.5 x 1 set (felt easy)
270x5@8x1 (knees felt horrible after the third rep).
270x2@9x1 (felt a stretch on my left quads, wtf?)
240x5@8x1
135x5x1 (wanted to do weights enough to accomplish the volume/stress work, knees still hurted)
45(bar)x5x3 (played with various stances, also tried high bar)

-
Strict Press:
130x1@8 x 1 set (felt heavy)
bar+(2x25) x 5 x 3 @ 7

-
8min Assisted (-180) - Chin Up Density Block:
18,15,12 [47, +2 rep pr]

If my knees start hurting again next week, may switch to an upper-lower version of Endurance Template (to avoid getting discouraged for my upper-body lifts)

[Bolder]

Was a little busy this week. I feel that I'm becoming much more fitter and the fact I feel like my conditioning is improving, and seems like I could get through workouts easier.

BBM 7 Week Endurance W2 D2
BW: ???
-
Comp Dead:
355x1@8
285x5x3@8 (felt super fatigued)

-
Floor Press + Closegrip Bench):
130x8
155x8....
185x8x3@6.5 (Elbows hurted, swicted to close grip bench on the last).
-
Barbell Row 8min Density Block:
15,15, 15 [30]



BBM 7 Week Endurance W2 D3

Comp Bench (TnG):
240x1@7
220x5@8.5 x 1 set
220x5@8 x 2 sets

-
Supplement Squat (Squat w/o Belt):
220x8@6 x 1 set

-
Pull up 8min Density Block:
(-150) x 15,12,10, 10 [47]

[Bolder]

BBM 7 Week Endurance W3 D1

Squat w/o Belt:
330x1@7.5 x 1 set (felt easy, but don't wana push it, feel like my old strength is coming back fast)
220x5@5 x 3 sets (kept it light. anyways, knees felt great

-
Strict Press:
100x5x3@7 (worked up to 110 felt like an rpe of 9, then drop down to 100, and felt like an rpe of 7 lol (felt lighter)..., meant to be an rpe of 8)

-
8min Assisted (-150) - Chin Up Density Block:
12,10,9,9 [42 reps, -30 weight pr]

then some HIIT on the rower, every 2 mins, 30 second sprint, and all done in 20 minutes.

2 min x 20 mins = 2700 something metres *scratches head*

[Chebass88]

BBM 7 Week Endurance W3 D1

Squat w/o Belt:
330x1@7.5 x 1 set (felt easy, but don't wana push it, feel like my old strength is coming back fast)
220x5@5 x 3 sets (kept it light. anyways, knees felt great

-
Strict Press:
100x5x3@7 (worked up to 110 felt like an rpe of 9, then drop down to 100, and felt like an rpe of 7 lol (felt lighter)..., meant to be an rpe of 8)

-
8min Assisted (-150) - Chin Up Density Block:
12,10,9,9 [42 reps, -30 weight pr]

then some HIIT on the rower, every 2 mins, 30 second sprint, and all done in 20 minutes.

2 min x 20 mins = 2700 something metres *scratches head*

Sorry to hear about your knees bothering you. I had (have?) an issue with my patellar tendons this year as well. If it helps, make sure your form is decent on the rower, especially with sprints, where the emphasis is pulling as much as possible, and a little slop can be introduced in form. Concept2's guidance is to make sure the shins are vertical at the "catch" (when the handle is closest to the fan wheel assembly). I hurt my knees by going fast and past the vertical point (I was touching my ankles with the seat - way too much!).

Solid work, Bolder. Keep it up!

[Bolder]

Still training, but backed off the rower a little to let my knees rest up. Hoping to finish this program soon to perhaps the 12 week BBM strength template or 16 week rehab. Most likely 16 week knee rehab.

BBM 7 Week Endurance W4 D1 & D2

Squat w/o Belt:
355x1@8.5
every light squats...

-
light Strict Press:


-
8min Assisted (-180) - Chin Up Density Block:
18,15,12,12 [57]

light floor presses

barbell rows 8 mins

some light rowing (for cardio) through out this week...

Sorry to hear about your knees bothering you. I had (have?) an issue with my patellar tendons this year as well. If it helps, make sure your form is decent on the rower, especially with sprints, where the emphasis is pulling as much as possible, and a little slop can be introduced in form. Concept2's guidance is to make sure the shins are vertical at the "catch" (when the handle is closest to the fan wheel assembly). I hurt my knees by going fast and past the vertical point (I was touching my ankles with the seat - way too much!).

Solid work, Bolder. Keep it up!

Thanks

And Sorry for the long-waited reply. My knees are feeling a little alright, but not as worse as before, at the start of this year. I've switched from high-bar to low-bar, which helped immensely at the start, but still ran into some knee issues. Then I tried revisiting some Starting Strength material to learn the low bar squats, ended up hurting my elbows a bit (but much more manageable to handle than hurting my knees). Widening the stance, wearing wrist wraps, lowering the bar to shelf of my rear delts, keeping my knees, looking down, and driving up with my hips/lowback/glutes are ques I use. But then as soon as I start adding weight to the bar (more load) my knees don't like it and it also seems to not like being too fatigued (too much frequent squatting).

Which is why I'm looking to squat once a week, if anything doesn't work out.... I'm giving the higher-frequency and higher-intensity approach to training again once more. If pure powerlifting doesn't workout for me, then I'll revert back to doing powerbuilding style training (1x deadlift, 1x squat, and 2x bench), with more fluff and pump stuff (which seems much more manageable, healthier, and long term).

[Bolder]

Sorry I did not logged. Finished the BBM 7 Week Endurance Template. All in all, it is a great program, my conditioning improved immensely, and I do not go through workouts huffing, and puffing. Lost 10lb of bodyweight, wanted to lose more, but did not want to impact too much on my recovery.

Best 500m row time now is 2 mins, 53 secs. Managed to Squat up 365 x 1 @ 8.5 (with a bit of knee pain) and benched up to 275 x 1 x 1 @ 8.5 (easily), and as for Deadlifts 375 x 1 @ 7. May max again this week and see where my real numbers are this week, not going to run a pivot week. Since this maybe last time, I could max out for a while, since the 16 week knee rehab program seems slow and methodical.

Anyways gonna start the 16 week knee rehab next week.

My plans for 2019 is:

Plan A --- (if all things go according to plan and if I don't get injured)

- BBM 16 Week Knee Rehab Template (January - May), slow weight loss to maintenance 10lb to 20lb (4kg to 9kg)
- BBM 12 Week Strength Template (May - August) = maintain body weight, eat slight surplus
- BBM 07 Week Endurance Template (August - September) = Try to lose as much weight as possible, 33lb/15kg of bodyweight.
- BBM 12 Week Strength Template (September - December) = maintain body weight, eat slight surplus

Hopefully, the end year with 507lb/230kg+ squat, 330lb/150kg+ bench, and 529lb/240kg deadlift. Also weighing less than 95kg/210lb would be great

Plan B --- (if I rupture my patella tendon, back to powerbuilding + bench focus)

- Just focus more bench press and upper body stuff, and do the juggernaut method. Also put squats and deadlifts in the back-burner (perhaps for the rest of my lifting journey/career, I am giving a lot of patience to these movements now. Don't want to lose my patience again and try to work with them again).

[Wilhelm]

Will you be doing the gelatin Vitamin C protocol for the knee rehab?

13:32 timestamp specifically, but the whole talk is worthwhile.
https://www.ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-63/
Best of success to you, Bolder.

[Bolder]

Will you be doing the gelatin Vitamin C protocol for the knee rehab?

13:32 timestamp specifically, but the whole talk is worthwhile.
https://www.ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-63/
Best of success to you, Bolder.

Haven't heard about that and I'm not sure how to go about obtaining that.

Thank you, Wilhelm! I'll give it a listen tonight, since I'll reading up on some stuff tonight.

EDIT: I just found some Collagen + Gelatin powder: https://www.nourishmeorganics.com.au/pr ... lagen-200g , may mix that with orange juice (to get a bit of vitamin c). Doesn't seem to expensive as well.

[Wilhelm]

@Bolder Looks like you are in Australia?
See if you can find just plain gelatin, like this
Knox-Unflavored-Gelatin-1-lb I removed the Amazon link because it doesn't show up in posts here.
Interestingly, i found this https://www.vitacost.com/nunaturals-gel ... ed-gelatin with a nice discount.
Not sure if they have offices in AU though.
I order my multivitamins from them, so i may get that as well and get the free shipping by spending over $49.
In any case, you don't have to order anything fancier unless you prefer too.

He mentions in the talk, that they haven't found a difference from regular gelatin and other forms of collagen for this protocol.
I use the Knox in the little boxes on the baking aisle at the grocery store, but only twice a week on squat days, since i am not actively rehabbing anything. But that is $2.19 for 28 grams, so i'm def paying too much.
Just figure i'll take some extra collagen synthesis to keep things healthy in this old body.
Two packets is 14 grams, which is one gram less than the protocol calls for.
It's also pretty expensive that way, so i may order that 1 lb container soon myself.

He lays it out in the talk, 15 grams with just a little C, then wait an hour, and skip rope 6 minutes.
He also explains the action in the tendon cells, and why this works.

The results with the NBA player were pretty amazing.

[Bolder]

My knees are feeling fine, I just feel some tenderness. Because of it, I have been dabbling with the thought of running TSA 9 weeks intermediate program. I think the 16 week knee rehab may take a little too long, anyways I'm just waiting to get paid from work to buy the 16 week knee rehab program. When I start my knee rehab, I'll be doing high bar squats instead of low bar squats. I don't feel any knee pain when I deadlift unless if the bar scraps my knees/top-shin. Decided to take an extra rest day last week.

I've looked around the barbell medicine forum logs (and saw that one guy is running the knee template), and it seems that I can't add that extra knee rehab protocol that Wilhelm suggested. I want to do the program as it says.

- Did some high bar squats (bealtless) worked up to 310 x 1 x 1 @ RPE 8.5 (which felt heavy).

- Hit a bench 285 x 1 x 1 @ RPE 9.5

- Worked up to a deadlift (beltless) of 395 x 1 x 1 @ RPE 9

Then some bicep and tricep stuff.

Hope to start the knee rehab program tomorrow, gonna train hard on the bench and deadlifts (hopefully). Hoping to get a 3+ plate bench soon, hopefully they program in some bench singles in the knee rehab program. I also don't have knee problems when I deadlift, hopefully I can train hard on deadlifts despite not being able to squat heavy for a while.