Platypus lifts/reads

[platypus]

Nice! I'm curious: did you do your max effort work in a planned rotation, and if so about how many variants did you rotate through?

Yes, pretty much always planned them ahead of time. I would choose 3 variants of each lift and cycle through them over a 6 week period.

Bench Example:
Weeks 1 & 4: Competition Bench Press
Weeks 2 & 5: Feet up Bench
Weeks 3 & 6: Pin Bench

I did the same thing over a longer period of time, using 6 exercises and stretching them over a 12-week period (Comp Bench on Weeks 1 & 7), but found that I didn't need that many weeks between and so I preferred the shorter rotation. I'd only planned six weeks at a time, but sometime I felt like I still had room to progress on a specific lift and would keep it in for longer than 6 weeks. I rarely dropped the competition lifts out for more than 6 weeks at a time because often this was the only exposure I had to them.

Ah, that’s a good idea. Thus far I’ve been enjoying choosing max effort work at random, but I’ll probably start following a pattern soon as I figure out what variants I like.

I see that you do your dynamic work for sets of 5. What kind of % of 1RM's do you end up using for those. I played around with this for a while but never got it dialed in to my liking - always seemed to end up struggling to maintain good bar speed for all of the reps when doing 5's, and ended up reverting to 3 reps or less. It's one of things where I liked the idea of working with a slightly heavier weight but it never worked right, so I'm curious about how that's working for you.

This is actually my first cycle of 5s for DE work. Initially I was doing ten triples for bench, ten doubles for squat, and five doubles for deadlift. Everything was on a 90 second timer. The percentages are 60%, 65%, and 70% in a three week wave.
My lifting partner and I switched to 5x5 for bench and squat on a 3 minute timer (same %s) after just a couple cycles of lower reps because it’s logistically easier; we can get the work done in the same time without rushing to change plates between sets. So far it’s going well, and this workout completed the 65% week. We’ll see how 70% goes.
We don’t measure speed in a precise way, but we’re both visibly faster on 5s now than we were with lower reps when we started doing DE work in January.

[platypus]

3/1/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	270x5x5
DE deadlift	275x2x5
HKR	15x5x3
Reverse hyper	BWx10x2
20” KB stepup	44s x 2 mins

Notes:
- The 44s were overly ambitious for stepups. I lost count but it was not many.

[Clearwater47]

Yeah, that all makes good sense. Glad the 5's are working well for you. I did the same thing with Max Effort work when I first started - took the opportunity to try all kinds of wild stuff and then reigned it in as I went along. It's a good approach.

[platypus]

3/4/24 - Max effort upper

Competition bench	210x1 240x1
Chinup	5x5x3
30° incline DB press	65x16RP
LTE	112.5x16RP

Notes:
- I was pretty ecstatic to get this bench press. I had pin benching in mind for today, but my training partner suggested competition bench and I wasn't going to wuss out. I've been going for a 5lb PR each time I return to a variation, which meant I would have to hit 240 with a competition pause. I did 240 touch and go last week and it was a struggle, so I was pretty nervous about this. To my surprise, it went up quick and level, much better than last week's T&G work.

- To understand my joy: I gained 6lbs on my bench 1rm between 2016 and 2023 (225-231), while managing to tear both my suprispinatus and infraspinatus tendons in my right shoulder.

- Speaking of rotator cuffs, my bad shoulder has been acting up ever since I took a few weeks off of heavy lifting this winter. When I got a crick in my neck last Thursday, my shoulder pain vanished.

I'm reminded of what Boethius wrote in The Consolation of Philosophy: "Oh, stupidest of mortals, if it takes to standing still, it ceases to be the wheel of Fortune."

[Clearwater47]

Congrats on the PR! The struggle only makes it more satisfying for sure.

[DanCR]

- I was pretty ecstatic to get this bench press. I had pin benching in mind for today, but my training partner suggested competition bench and I wasn't going to wuss out. I've been going for a 5lb PR each time I return to a variation, which meant I would have to hit 240 with a competition pause. I did 240 touch and go last week and it was a struggle, so I was pretty nervous about this. To my surprise, it went up quick and level, much better than last week's T&G work.

Great work, especially given that history. Reading this provided me with some validation, in that I've been considering switching to a (very slightly) paused bench. My bar path is shit with TnG, and my (very slightly) paused bench always has been within 95% or so of it, so I'm willing to trade a few lbs for much better form and problem avoidance (specifically, my left shoulder has been pissy).

[houzi]

Congrats on the PR! Conjugate style training has always interested me, seems like it is going well for you.

[platypus]

@Clearwater47, @houzi, and @DCR, thank you for the compliments and encouragement!

3/5/24 - max effort lower

Squat	375x1 420xF
#2 rack pull	355x8
HBB GHR	BWx5x2
20" stepup	BWx60 in 3 mins

Notes:
- 420 squat today was a miss, but I still gained some valuable data. I hit the transition reasonably well, came about 5" out of the hole, and very suddenly came back down. I'm not sure exactly how to use this information to diagnose my weak points, but I'm thinking probably this means I should do some pin squats or banded squatting to get practice working on the sticking point.

[Hardartery]

Clearwater47, houzi, and DCR, thank you for the compliments and encouragement!

3/5/24 - max effort lower

Squat	375x1 420xF
#2 rack pull	355x8
HBB GHR	BWx5x2
20" stepup	BWx60 in 3 mins

Notes:
- 420 squat today was a miss, but I still gained some valuable data. I hit the transition reasonably well, came about 5" out of the hole, and very suddenly came back down. I'm not sure exactly how to use this information to diagnose my weak points, but I'm thinking probably this means I should do some pin squats or banded squatting to get practice working on the sticking point.

Probably Glutes, maybe quads as well a little. RDL's or Good Mornings will fix it pretty quick. Even high Pin Pulls would hit it but not as well.

[platypus]

3/7/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	170x5x5
Seated press	115x6 105x6
Aussie pullup	BWx13, x7, x6
EZ curl	65x14RP

- 420 squat today was a miss, but I still gained some valuable data. I hit the transition reasonably well, came about 5" out of the hole, and very suddenly came back down. I'm not sure exactly how to use this information to diagnose my weak points, but I'm thinking probably this means I should do some pin squats or banded squatting to get practice working on the sticking point.

Probably Glutes, maybe quads as well a little. RDL's or Good Mornings will fix it pretty quick. Even high Pin Pulls would hit it but not as well.

Thanks! I have not done good mornings but I'll work them into the schedule.

I also checked my weight today and realized I'm down 20lbs of bodyweight since my 415lb squat in December, and I've mostly done repetition effort rather than max effort squatting. So weight loss & general lack of heavy singles might be the real culprits.

[platypus]

3/9/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	290x5x5
DE deadlift	300x2x5
HKR	20x5x3
HBB GHR	BWx6x2
20” DB stepup	5s x 50 in 2:90

Notes:
- This wraps up the top of my dynamic effort wave at 70%. The squats weren't as fast as last week, but still not slow so I'm fine with it.

- A friend of mine asked me to do a 13 day fast with him, knowing I would have trouble saying no because it would beat my 12 day fasting PR. I'm very tempted, and without a meet on the calendar have no real reason to be concerned about how it will affect training. This may happen.

[cole]

- 420 squat today was a miss, but I still gained some valuable data. I hit the transition reasonably well, came about 5" out of the hole, and very suddenly came back down. I'm not sure exactly how to use this information to diagnose my weak points, but I'm thinking probably this means I should do some pin squats or banded squatting to get practice working on the sticking point.

Failing 5in out of the hole would tell me its more of a hip extensor limiter. I agree with @Hardartery , RDLs to the floor would be where I would start.

[DanCR]

- A friend of mine asked me to do a 13 day fast with him, knowing I would have trouble saying no because it would beat my 12 day fasting PR. I'm very tempted, and without a meet on the calendar have no real reason to be concerned about how it will affect training. This may happen.

How is he defining “fast”?

[hector]

Dom D’Agostino is an academic and expert in keto and fasting. I think he did an 8 day fast and could still pull ~600 for reps, close to his normal working weight.
(If I remember right, it’s been a minute.)

[platypus]

3/11/24 - Max effort upper

30° incline press	190x1 200x1 210x1 (misload)
30° incline DB press	70x8 60x5
Pullup	BWx4x2, x3
Pushup	BWx45 in 10 min

Notes:
- Was supposed to incline bench 215, but forgot to put a 5 on the left side. I had no spotter and it seemed best to try again another week.

3/12/24 - Max effort upper

SSB squat	300x5
Deadlift	380x1 405x1 425x0
Burpee x5 Swing 44x5	5 rounds in 3:32

Notes:
- 425 didn't budge. I listened to Andy Baker's most recent podcast, and he mentioned he prefers not to see guys go below 5 reps when losing weight. Maybe I ought to heed the advice and go for rep maxes until I hit my fat loss goals.

[platypus]

- 420 squat today was a miss, but I still gained some valuable data. I hit the transition reasonably well, came about 5" out of the hole, and very suddenly came back down. I'm not sure exactly how to use this information to diagnose my weak points, but I'm thinking probably this means I should do some pin squats or banded squatting to get practice working on the sticking point.

Failing 5in out of the hole would tell me its more of a hip extensor limiter. I agree with @Hardartery , RDLs to the floor would be where I would start.

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually just took those out of my routine a couple weeks ago to do rack pulls instead, but it may have been a bad idea.

- A friend of mine asked me to do a 13 day fast with him, knowing I would have trouble saying no because it would beat my 12 day fasting PR. I'm very tempted, and without a meet on the calendar have no real reason to be concerned about how it will affect training. This may happen.

How is he defining “fast”?

Fast as in not consuming calories. My 12-day I just had water, tea, and coffee, but my buddy suggested we allow electrolytes of some kind as well, which I'm fine with. We will begin tomorrow.

Dom D’Agostino is an academic and expert in keto and fasting. I think he did an 8 day fast and could still pull ~600 for reps, close to his normal working weight.
(If I remember right, it’s been a minute.)

That's good to know, I'm checking out some podcasts with him now. The main thing I'm wondering about is how to handle training. I think I should be able to do DE days at 60% and will probably skip most accessory work. The main question is whether to do the ME days at all, or just go a bit light.

[DanCR]

[

- A friend of mine asked me to do a 13 day fast with him, knowing I would have trouble saying no because it would beat my 12 day fasting PR. I'm very tempted, and without a meet on the calendar have no real reason to be concerned about how it will affect training. This may happen.

How is he defining “fast”?

Fast as in not consuming calories. My 12-day I just had water, tea, and coffee, but my buddy suggested we allow electrolytes of some kind as well, which I'm fine with. We will begin tomorrow.

Damn. Good luck and I hope it brings all the benefits that you want and more.

[platypus]

3/14/24 - dynamic effort upper

DE bench	145x5x5
Seated press	117.5x6
Aussie pullup	BWx14

3/15/24 - dynamic effort lower

DE squat	250x5x5
DE deadlift	255x2x5
HKR	20x6

Notes:
- Cut my volume of assistance work way back but stuck to my planned DE sessions, which went well enough.

- Skipped high-intensity cardio on Friday but went on an afternoon hike instead.

- It's day 3 without food, and I'm pretty hungry. I'm going to some St. Patrick's day festivities this weekend, and I'll have to chug water while everyone else is gulping down dark, foamy glasses of Guinness and smell the aroma of their freshly cooked brats and buttery Irish potatoes. I'm still in the stage of thinking about food constantly. I know from experience, though, that day 3 is the worst and it gets better from here on out.

- Weight is down from 223.5 to 218.6 since we began on Thursday.

- I've had some free time to read for pleasure lately, what with having no meal prep, eating, or cleanup to do, so I've managed to get some free reading in. I read Canticle for Leibowitz by Arthur Miller Jr. It was nearly impossible to put down. It's a sci fi novel that spans several hundred years, about monks in a post-nuclear war society. It begins extremely funny, but gets quite grim as things progress.

- I'm about a third of the way into Gone With the Wind.

[platypus]

3/18/24 - Max effort upper

#10 rack bench press	220xF
Chinup	BWx5x3
30° incline DB press	65x6
LTE	100x10

Notes:
- It's day 5 without food. I was feeling good today, so decided to do max effort upper as usual. Perhaps not my most stellar idea. I worked up to 90% of my rack bench max and missed it. I took it easy the rest of the workout, just trying to remind my muscles to keep existing without breaking them down enough to require a bunch of nutrients that I'm not getting.

- I have discovered that a warm glass of salt water feels pretty substantial on a very empty stomach.

- 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.

[cgeorg]

- 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