The Flywheel Effect

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Clearwater47
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March 15, 2023

#41

Post by Clearwater47 » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:21 pm

Bench Press
135 pounds x 11/8/6 - all sets @8 RPE

Conv Deadlift
325 pounds x 6 reps - @8
275 pounds - 2 sets x 2 reps

Rest times were 2 minutes or less on everything. I'm going to mix in workouts like this somewhat regularly to help with building work capacity.

The weights I'm using are staying basically the same on each lift right now - alternating between a lighter day and a heavier day on each exercise. I have rep goals that will trigger me to increase weight. The goal for deads was 7 reps today and I could have made it but really don't want to go beyond 8 RPE on anything since my frequency is pretty high right now. Improving my work capacity should help and I fully expect I'll hit the goal on my next attempt, though that may be a few weeks off.

Increasing the weight on the bar from day to day or week to week is NOT my primary goal at this point. I'm really just trying to get in a lot of good clean reps in the 60-80% range. I think it's going very well. I feel fresh and can tell that my strength is gradually increasing.

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Clearwater47
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March 18, 2023

#42

Post by Clearwater47 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:00 pm

Bench Press
155 pounds - 7 sets x 3 reps

Skipped squats and then added an extra rest day because one of my knees hasn't been feeling right for about a week.

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Clearwater47
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March 20, 2023

#43

Post by Clearwater47 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:01 pm

Bench Press
135 pounds - 8 sets x 6 reps

Conv Deadlift
275 pounds - 5 sets x 4 reps

Was feeling pretty good today so I ended up skipping ahead and doing the sets x reps that were scheduled for the following session instead. I'd guess that the extra rest day helped.
I'm getting better at modifying my plan for the day according to how I'm feeling and performing at that moment. I feel like this should pay dividends in the long run.

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March 23, 2023

#44

Post by Clearwater47 » Thu Mar 23, 2023 6:30 pm

SSB Low Box Squat
165 pounds - 5 sets x 4 reps

Bench Press
155 pounds - 8 sets x 3 reps

I switched the lift order so that I'm freshest when doing squats. It worked well. Good energy level was good through the squats and I didn't notice any real impact on bench. I'll probably do the same thing on deadlift days as well.

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Clearwater47
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March 25, 2023

#45

Post by Clearwater47 » Sat Mar 25, 2023 6:55 pm

Conv Deadlift
325 pounds - 5 sets x 3 reps

Bench Press
115 pounds - 6 sets x 6 reps

I've still been having a slightly tender knee. It seems like it's bench press that's bothering it more than squats or deads so I went lighter on those today and used pretty much no legs during the lift. It was pretty easy, as expected.

Deads on the other hand were harder than expected even though I was never super close to failure - probably nothing over an 8 RPE.

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March 27, 2023

#46

Post by Clearwater47 » Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:59 pm

SSB Squat
205 pounds - 6 sets x 2 reps

Bench Press
155 pounds - 6 sets x 4 reps

I'm removing the box on squats for now to try to get a bit closer to a standard squat. Would love to do some regular low bar squats but I'm not going anywhere near that until I feel my elbow has healed up fully.

Bench went well. Got near an RPE 9 on the last rep of the last set. Next time should be 7 sets of 4 and I'm sure that will be a real challenge.

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March 29, 2023

#47

Post by Clearwater47 » Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:53 pm

Bench Press
125 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Conv Deadlift
275 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

After 3 weeks being unable to lift, I've now been back at it for a month. I'm going to transition to programming that's a little different. I've mostly been doing many sets of lower rep work. I'm going to reduce sets and increase reps. Also planning to start adding in some accessory stuff sometime soon.

Both Bench and Deadlift were pretty easy - nothing higher than about a 6 RPE.

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March 31, 2023

#48

Post by Clearwater47 » Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:00 pm

SSB Squat
205 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps

Supinated Triceps Pushdown
10 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

Close Grip Larsen Press
95 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Squats went well.
Started out trying normal triceps pushdown but felt discomfort in my elbow right away. Decided to try it supinated and there wasn't even a trace of pain or discomfort so I'll likely continue doing them that way.
Doing close grip larsen press because I don't want any pressure on my knees. Close grip is just to add some variation some I'm doing a standard grip for all of my other pressing right now. 95 pounds was meant to be a warm up weight but after doing a few reps with it I decided it was going to be my working weight.

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April 1, 2023

#49

Post by Clearwater47 » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:40 pm

Bench Press
155 pounds x 7 reps

Deadlift
275 pounds - 3 sets x 7 reps

Nordic Hamstring Curls
3 sets x 8 reps

Hit my rep goal on bench so I'll increase weight next time.
Deadlifts drained me enormously but were nowhere near failure. Next time will be 3x8.

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April 3, 2023

#50

Post by Clearwater47 » Mon Apr 03, 2023 6:58 pm

SSB Squat
165 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Leg Extension
75 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

DB Bench Press
40's - 3 sets x 10 reps

Still struggling to build up work capacity on squats. I was very light headed after each of the 3 sets even though they weren't very close to failure. I'll aim for sets of 7 next time.
Leg Extensions and DB Bench weren't too difficult. Focus was on getting a full range of motion and controlling the weight throughout. Weight will go up next time around.

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April 4, 2023

#51

Post by Clearwater47 » Tue Apr 04, 2023 5:32 pm

Conventional Deadlift
325 pounds x 7 reps

Bench Press
135 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Pretty easily hit 7 reps on deads at about a 7-8 RPE so I'll increase weight next time. First time taking video of myself in a while. I should do it more often... Noticed on deads that my hips were shooting up right away and as a result coming through later than they should be. I believe this is because of the belt limiting me in the setup. Even though I feel like I get extra support from it, I'm likely better off not using it because something like this could likely be the difference between making or missing a lift that's closer to my 1RM. I could also just experiment with loosening it more...but I don't feel like I lose much (if any) strength without the belt.

Not sure what happened on bench today, but something clicked. It felt extremely light compared to how it's generally been feeling lately and the movement pattern seemed to be more locked in. I probably could've done 3x10 without needing to grind, but I'm content to go slowly, especially since the weight will be increasing on my heavier bench day this week.


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Clearwater47
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April 7, 2023

#52

Post by Clearwater47 » Fri Apr 07, 2023 5:21 pm

SSB Squat
205 pounds - 3 sets x 4 reps

Close Grip Larsen Press
105 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Supinated Triceps Pushdown
15 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

Squats got a little grindy on the final reps. Video of the second set is below. After watching it back I did a better job of getting to depth and maintaining tightness on the descent on the final set.


hector
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Re: The Flywheel Effect

#53

Post by hector » Fri Apr 07, 2023 6:28 pm

I like your goal of just getting lots of clean reps in the 60-80 percent range.
Do you get much utility out of deadlifting with a belt?

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Re: The Flywheel Effect

#54

Post by Clearwater47 » Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:39 pm

hector wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 6:28 pm I like your goal of just getting lots of clean reps in the 60-80 percent range.
Do you get much utility out of deadlifting with a belt?
Hey Hector. :)

Yes, I'm really liking the work I've been doing in that range as well.

Regarding the belt, I get some utility out of it, but not a lot. I started wearing one more regularly after tweaking my back pretty badly a few years back. I didn't hurt it deadlifting, but ended up re-tweaking it a couple of times deadlifting in the months that followed. So I started using the belt to get some additional stability in my lower back. That's far in the rear view mirror though.

I've typically not been wearing it when deadlifting recently, and only did so on this occasion because I expected to be pushing near 9-10 RPE. I realized after the fact that I probably would've been better of without it. I do have a narrower belt I've only used a handful of times. I may play around with that when doing lower intensity work and see how it impacts my starting position.

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Clearwater47
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April 8, 2023

#55

Post by Clearwater47 » Sat Apr 08, 2023 4:32 pm

Bench Press
165 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps

Conv Deadlift
275 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Nordic Hamstring Curl
3 sets x 8 reps

Not sure I could've done 4 reps on any of the bench sets, so it'll be interesting to see how next week goes when I should be doing 3x4.
Deads were pretty easy. Tried out my smaller belt and I like that much better for deadlifting. It's a 3 inch belt and I think 10mm while my main one is 4 inches and 13mm.

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Clearwater47
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April 9, 2023

#56

Post by Clearwater47 » Sun Apr 09, 2023 3:09 pm

SSB Squat
165 - 3 sets x 7 reps

Leg Extension
90 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

DB Bench Press
45's - 3 sets x 10 reps

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Clearwater47
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April 10, 2023

#57

Post by Clearwater47 » Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:47 pm

Conv Deadlift
335 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps

Bench Press
135 pounds - 3 sets x 7 reps

All smooth. Used the smaller belt when deadlifting again today and it felt great. Will likely stick with using this when I do belted work.


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Clearwater47
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April 12, 2023

#58

Post by Clearwater47 » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:45 pm

SSB Squat
205 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps

Close Grip Larsen Press
115 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Supinated Triceps Pushdown
20 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

Squats felt good. I'll increase weight next time. As you may have noticed watching my vids lately the 2 year old is constantly hovering around me. Half the time I setup and end up not even starting the set because he stands under me or under the weights. At some point I may need to lock him out of the room when I'm lifting, but I pretty much know if I do that the whole workout is over because a tantrum is highly likely.

I can tell something is going right on bench because if was easier than last week even though it was 10 pounds heavier.


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Clearwater47
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April 15, 2023

#59

Post by Clearwater47 » Sat Apr 15, 2023 5:40 pm

Bench Press
165 pounds - 3 sets x 4 reps

Conv Deadlift
285 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Nordic Hamstring Curl
3 sets x 8 reps

Last week bench was 3x3 with this weight and I said I didn't think I could've done 4 reps on any of the sets. Did 3x4 this week and felt like I could've done more reps on each set. Interesting how that works sometimes...

Deads was quite easy today as well despite a 10 pound weight increase from last week.

Work capacity has definitely improved. Overall the fatigue in each session is reduced. I never felt fatigued at all today and probably could've done all of the sets with 60 second or less rest between. I'm very happy with how things are going right now.


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Clearwater47
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April 16, 2023

#60

Post by Clearwater47 » Sun Apr 16, 2023 4:41 pm

SSB Squat
165 - 3 sets x 8 reps

Leg Extension
100 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

DB Bench Press
47.5's - 3 sets x 10 reps

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