Fossil's Training Log

[Fossil]

Please excuse me if I’m missing it in your log - why did you switch out the swings for the one arm presses? And did you choose the latter for any reason related to Pavel’s Power to the People regimen? (Solely deadlifts and one arm presses.)

Modern equipment doesn't really allow me to do swings with my left hand, at least not properly. The lift more or less must be done with a grip against the front plates and the way my left hand was "redesigned" made tubercles that don't exist on a "normal" hand. I could do the lift pretty well up to a certain point, but as the weight went up, having the front end of the dumbbell plates rest all the weight on a tiny prominence of bone basically made it impossible to secure my grip.

It's a real shame too because I enjoyed performing the lift a lot and believe it's a highly applicable and easy to learn Olympic lift variant with all of the benefits of single arm explosive lifts and none of the drawbacks aside from potentially losing your grip and having a heavy dumbbell fly across the room lol.

I might still return to the lift if I can find a loadable globe dumbbell that isn't a strongman implement. I'm fairly certain the curvature of a globe would allow me to press my left hand into the front sphere without issue. Been talking with a guy who once in a blue moon sells water-fillable (or sand/gravel/shot/etc) heavy-duty globe dumbbells so might get one next time he's selling.

Re: PttP
Nope -From what little I know of the program it seems like a solid concept, but I just like one arm pressing since it requires almost no skill and you can go heavy with little-to-no warmup.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
90 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 3

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 66m (6 trips)

Tweaked my upper back really badly last time I did these so, although the area feels 80-90% fine now, I didn't push it. The tweak was from over-exaggerating "good posture" instead of just staying tall.

[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
52 x 3 L/R

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
90 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 4

Very solid. Had 5 reps on the top set easily but still want to ease everything along as painlessly as possible; In the past I've had a bad habit of going really hard basically every day. Constantly hitting a daily max but I always stall out pretty quickly.

This very well could turn into a 16 week thing. I don't want to move up to 8s coming off the 5s with a really hard top set. The idea is to hit a top set of 5 that feels solid with maybe 1-2 reps in reserve, then simply lower the number of sets and push the top set of 5 to a set of 8 over time. I think my best set of 8 with FS was 215 maybe? Somewhere around there at a similar bodyweight - 155ish.

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Turns out the insane DOMS in my pper back / scapula area last week wasn't a strain at all, it was so sore because those muscle have spent 34 years not being used. These farmers walks are without question, the best thing I've done for my rotator cuff. I can't believe at how much usable overhead ROM I've gained in my left shoulder. It's still tight and resists external rotation but not half as much as it used to.
This will be a permanent core lift for me from here on out.

[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
52 x 4 L/R

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 88m (8 trips)

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
90 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 66m (6 trips)
75 L/R x 34m (3 trips)

Wanted the 100m to see how it felt to spread it across multiple sets. Not sure it's necessary since I almost always get 5+ trips.
I was out of town all weekend on a mini vacation so wanted to put the calories to use.

Hip flexor issue is gone but now it's become a QL issue - that was at one time part of the hip issue but now I think since I've got the pressing thing worked out, it's the farmer's walks that are aggravating it. Having arms that are an uneven length is a real pain sometimes...
Gotta figure out a solve for that.

[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
52 x 5 L/R

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 66m (6 trips)

Posture on the FWs was much better this time around; kept my shoulders back. Felt very solid.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 3

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Part of my QL issue might be that I'm doing more of a turn on one side / lap than the other side / return lap. So instead of a long figure-8, it's a lopsided one. Really wish I lived on the bottom floor - not going to risk walking up / down stairs with these handles so I need to make what I can do in my apartment at least more consistent.

[Fossil]

Went out of town for a few days last week but was able to get in a session at Vasa. I did the following:

One-Arm Overhead Press:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Belt Squat:
3 x 10, added weight each set

Hammer Iso High Row:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Stiff-Arm Pulldown:
2 x 10, first set with rope attachment, added weight then second set with straight bar



Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
47 x 5 L/R
53 x 4 L/R

The last rep of each set wasn't super grind-ey but probably slightly higher in intensity than I usually go. Won't make a habit of that but the 3rd rep moved so well I figured I might as well really autoregulate this session instead of being pedantic about starting with a triple and adding a rep each session.

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Took a way different approach with these since the QL thing has become a pretty noticeable issue in everyday life and just leaving it be is not a tenable strategy; instead of turning around in a wide arc, I took things slower and did a small rotation at the end of each lap. I think when I rush and use a wide arc to turn, I lean to one side and kinda stay that way. I'll find out tomorrow if this new method worked...

[Hardartery]

Went out of town for a few days last week but was able to get in a session at Vasa. I did the following:

One-Arm Overhead Press:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Belt Squat:
3 x 10, added weight each set

Hammer Iso High Row:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Stiff-Arm Pulldown:
2 x 10, first set with rope attachment, added weight then second set with straight bar



Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
47 x 5 L/R
53 x 4 L/R

The last rep of each set wasn't super grind-ey but probably slightly higher in intensity than I usually go. Won't make a habit of that but the 3rd rep moved so well I figured I might as well really autoregulate this session instead of being pedantic about starting with a triple and adding a rep each session.

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Took a way different approach with these since the QL thing has become a pretty noticeable issue in everyday life and just leaving it be is not a tenable strategy; instead of turning around in a wide arc, I took things slower and did a small rotation at the end of each lap. I think when I rush and use a wide arc to turn, I lean to one side and kinda stay that way. I'll find out tomorrow if this new method worked...

Don't do an arc at all. It's actually the worst way to turn in a FW. It's way better to spin ala Phil Pfister. It's actually easier once you get the hang of it and removes issues of leaning and unequal loading of the grip on one side versus the other. If you get really good you actually finish the spin with a backwards step and then go.

[Fossil]

Went out of town for a few days last week but was able to get in a session at Vasa. I did the following:

One-Arm Overhead Press:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Belt Squat:
3 x 10, added weight each set

Hammer Iso High Row:
2 x 20, added weight to the second set

Stiff-Arm Pulldown:
2 x 10, first set with rope attachment, added weight then second set with straight bar



Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
47 x 5 L/R
53 x 4 L/R

The last rep of each set wasn't super grind-ey but probably slightly higher in intensity than I usually go. Won't make a habit of that but the 3rd rep moved so well I figured I might as well really autoregulate this session instead of being pedantic about starting with a triple and adding a rep each session.

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Took a way different approach with these since the QL thing has become a pretty noticeable issue in everyday life and just leaving it be is not a tenable strategy; instead of turning around in a wide arc, I took things slower and did a small rotation at the end of each lap. I think when I rush and use a wide arc to turn, I lean to one side and kinda stay that way. I'll find out tomorrow if this new method worked...

Don't do an arc at all. It's actually the worst way to turn in a FW. It's way better to spin ala Phil Pfister. It's actually easier once you get the hang of it and removes issues of leaning and unequal loading of the grip on one side versus the other. If you get really good you actually finish the spin with a backwards step and then go.

I think I started doing the wide arc turn because you can kind of "ride the momentum" through the turn a little, and initially it felt a bit easier for me but yeah, in the long run it wears out the grip really fast and messes up my bracing. Will definitely be using the spin from here on out.

[Fossil]

Zero QL pain. Very glad that has been solved... but when one door opens, another closes lol (see below)

Jump Rope:
3 minutes

At around three minutes in I started feeling a sharp pain near the outside of my left heel so I cut this short. Almost definitely a minor sprain. Next session I'll go back to doing this on my dense foam mat and go back to spending the first minute on double hops instead of higher-impact single unders.

Front Squat:
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 3

Mis-load, but didn't feel heavy. Will stick with this weight.

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 66m (6 trips)

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
47 x 5 L/R
53 x 5 L/R

Went back to a natural stance for pressing - much, much better. Not sure why I stopped using it but it let's me sink my elbow into my lat, which really fires my rotator cuff. The reps also feel more stable and upright. Also puts zero stress on my right hip.


Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

Patiently waiting on my grip to improve lol.

[Fossil]

Forgot to hit send last night lol but did this:


Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Did an insane amount of walking this weekend at a street-party-music-festival-thing and also got pretty sunburned / dehydrated so didn't go into this expecting too much.

Front Squat:
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 3

Farmers Walk:
75 L/R x 77m (7 trips)

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

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


Moving farmers walks to their own day. Not sure if or why it will make a difference but at the very least would allow for more recovery for my hands/grip.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Achilles is feeling almost 100% back to normal, thankfully.

Farmers Walk:
55 L/R x 50m (4.5 trips)
75 L/R x 100m (9 trips)

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 4

Full grip rack position is back. Without question the result of Farmers Walks giving me more usable external rotation. After each set I could feel my mid-back was worked and I had more overhead extension with my left arm.

Farmers Walk:
80 L/R x 44m (4 trips)

Rethinking my decision to split stuff up - no need to change something that was working well before. It always starts with a little change here and there and before you know it, you've completely overhauled what was working and turned it into an experiment...
Since FWs are done twice a week, starting lower in terms of "reps" [trips] and forcing a slower rate of progression is realistically the only way to get them to progress at all.

Today, I focused on posture and taking my time. They felt great.

[DCR]

Rethinking my decision to split stuff up - no need to change something that was working well before. It always starts with a little change here and there and before you know it, you've completely overhauled what was working and turned it into an experiment...

Absolutely. Last night I wrote out something new to go with my new priority of no longer being a fat fuck. Got to gym today and mostly scrapped it. Some shit has not been going well, but a lot has been, and no sense throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[Fossil]

no sense throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

100% agree.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
25 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
50 x 5 L/R
55 x 4 L/R

Farmers Walk:
80 L/R x 44m (4 trips)