slowmotion wrote: ↑Mon Oct 17, 2022 11:12 pm
The Platz squats looks interesting, I might try them, with really light weight.
I've been thinking, if you are looking for programming inspiration maybe look at some of the Sheiko templates? Just a thought.
I found them a bit strange at first especially standing on the edge of a weight plate. They're better with the wedges (which only cost $30). And I get more of a quad pump from them than with normal squats.
To be honest I haven't really ever looked at Sheiko's stuff much - and I really should. Thanks! I'll check it out. Not sure if it'll appeal but we'll see when it gets to that stage. I've got a bit of an idea the types of stuff I want to do....
I was gonna do this session yesterday since I've got about 5 hours of driving today, but I stayed in bed instead. It was the right call at the time, since even with the extra sleep I struggled to stay awake at times yesterday, but I guess today is gonna be a long day with lots of caffeine.
Training Notes:
I'd sorta thought about trying high bar squats today but I don't trust my shoulder enough yet so SSB it was, again. Just some fairly easy sets of five, these felt OK. I'm noticing less and less tendon pain and mostly just irritation in the hip itself (bursitis) which to me is a good sign, since from what I read with GTPS the bursitis is a result of the tendinopathy, so if the tendinopathy is going away maybe the bursitis will start to clear up too if I keep managing the load appropriately.
The front foot squats that I love to hate were next, I'd only planned eights today but tens weren't awfully difficult, I guess I hadn't fatigued my quads too badly.
Pure laziness but I just did some light dumbbell RDLs after that, very easy although I did get quite a hamstring burn in the second set especially.
Wanted to try some very conservative overhead press, these caused some minor discomfort to start with but were OK once I got going. Similar with the pushups, got a good stretch of the chest with those.
Got it all done in 47 minutes. Not a bad day, really.
Swiss Bar Bench Press:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x55kg
8x55kg
8x55kg
Sub 1 minute rests
Dumbbell Fly:
12x25lb / hand
15x25lb / hand
1 minute rest
Incline Curl:
10x25lb / hand
10x25lb / hand
15x25lb / hand @ 6.5
1 minute rests
Lat Pulldown:
12x60kg
12x60kg
12x60kg @ 6.5
--- Supersetted with --- SSB Side Step Up w/Band:
12x57kg
12x57kg
15x57kg
1 minute rests between supersets
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Was just feeling exhausted all day yesterday and then wanted to watch Andor with the wife last night so didn't get to bed quite early enough either. Unsurprisingly woke up tired. Needed something pretty quick and easy.
Training Notes:
Benched eights with the same weight as I did twelves last session. All nice and easy weight wise although I'd be lying if I said it was totally without some tightness in the shoulder too. Then did some flys, pretty sure I did twelve first time out, but then pushed on to fifteen with the second because they were feeling pretty good by then.
Tried to keep the curls nice and easy but then in the last set I figured why not do a couple more, and ended up getting fifteen without being tough at all really.
Skipped out on dumbbell rows again, and also skipped any unilateral quad work, and just did some lat pulldowns with the side step ups to finish. All pretty easy.
Lateral Raise:
10x10lb / hand
12x10lb / hand
1 minute rest
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Slept pretty well, did some chores this morning, but my stomach was being stupid and my chest was expelling stuff so I was extremely close to postponing or skipping this session; after spending a few hours on the couch this afternoon I wandered out and did it at 4pm anyway. When I walked out I had every intention of just squatting and nothing else but ended up doing the whole session, for better or worse.
Training Notes:
Programmed in a heavier squat single before the work sets today. After doing the double (which was the heaviest I'd squatted in a few months) I went and threw another 20kg on the bar even though I knew it was probably too much of a jump. Anyway it was reasonably heavy but not grindy or anything, and it certainly stretched out my sore leg a bit. Turns out this is the heaviest Platz squat I've ever done, though I've I've done 122kg for sixes so it's really nowhere near a max. But given it was beltless, plus I'm sick and out of condition, yeah I've lost some strength but probably not tons. The work sets were fairly easy after that.
I'm dropping leg extensions for a while to give my knee a break, and figured I'd try dumbbell Bulgarians again. I struggled a lot with balance as usual with these, but then after I did them I noticed I'd mismatched the dumbbells, I had 30lb on one and 32.5lb on the other - that wouldn't have helped.
Did some hamstring curls and that was it for the leg stuff today. Last rep might've got a bit short.
Nice easy squeeze presses - no trouble there. Was disappointed with the triceps pushdowns, feel like I'm going backwards with these, but maybe my triceps were just tired. Lateral raises after that, took four or five reps before the shoulder really warmed up and stopped annoying me, but the second set felt pretty good so I did a couple more reps.
Pretty reasonable effort, given how I felt, in just 44 minutes. Hope tomorrow is a better day.
3:1:0 Tempo Medium Grip Bench Press:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x60kg
8x60kg
9x60kg because I can't count
1 minute rests
Dumbbell Fly:
15x27.5lb / hand
15x27.5lb / hand
1 minute rest
Seated Cable Row:
12x65kg
12x65kg
12x65kg
90 second rests
Dumbbell Thruster:
12x25lb / hand
12x25lb / hand
12x25lb / hand
90 second rests
Banded SSB Side Step Up:
12x62kg
12x62kg
12x62kg
90 second rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had plenty of time in bed, sleep quality wasn't fantastic though. Anyway stomach was almost back to normal today, chest not so much, but I had a pretty chill morning and got out to the gym at 11am.
Training Notes:
Not much to report about tempo benching - the first set felt a little tight, the second felt pretty good, and the third I lost concentration and miscounted, not surprisingly the last rep of that set felt a little slower than the first two sets.
Did some pretty easy flys, got a good stretch of the chest. I used to have elbow issues doing these heavy and while I haven't got anywhere near heavier weights with them, they've been feeling pretty decent on my shoulder so I can probably go a little harder this block.
Added 5kg to the seated rows and didn't feel like twelves was pushing very hard with these either.
I had seated dumbbell press and goblet squats programmed, but decided to mash them together and do some light thrusters instead. Never done these before but they've been on my radar for when I felt ready. At this weight they were no trouble strength wise but my fitness is clearly pretty poor based on how I was breathing. The neutral grip seemed to be ok for my shoulder, but by the third set my uninjured left side was struggling noticeably to keep up.
Added 5kg to the side step ups as well for a nice little PR. Although I was tired and puffed by then even the third set wasn't particularly hard.
Deficit Push Up (Feet on Bench):
12xBW
12xBW
12xBW @ 7
1 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had a pretty long day yesterday, with an early start to watch the F1, didn't sleep great last night, and woke up REAL tired. Took a bit of convincing myself to get out and lift instead of going back to bed but it was all good. The name of the game today was keeping it easy.
Training Notes:
First time pulling from the floor in over 2 months, I definitely wasn't intending to push very hard today. Honestly though the warmups felt a LOT better than I expected and I knocked out two easy sets of eight no worries, aside from sore hands. The first set had me blowing a bit, but the second was easier than the first.
Some light RDLs after that, really pretty easy but I wanted to keep some gas in the tank for squatting.
Paradoxically, I kinda hate squatting after deadlifting because of fatigue, but at the same time the bar often feels lighter on my back after having picked up something heavier a few times. I wasn't sure how my shoulder would go with high bar but it was fine at this weight, although my elbows were both a little stretched out afterwards, guess they'll have to get used to them again. These felt like reasonably decent pause squats, the last set might've got to RPE 5 or 6 at the end.
Added 5kg to the overhead pressing expecting to only do sixes but eights were fine and dandy, my shoulder was popping a little at the bottom but there was definitely less discomfort than last week so that's positive.
Didn't have a lot of fun with the deficit push ups but I got them done, and the last set was a little harder than last week. Probably tired, and I was kinda pausing some of the reps at the bottom a bit, so whatever.
Finished this off in 44 minutes, then went out and walked the dog in the rain, felt reasonably good about having done it.
Helms Dumbbell Row:
12x60lb / hand
12x60lb / hand
12x60lb / hand @ 6.5
90 second rests
Dumbbell LTE:
12x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand @ 6.5
1 minute rests
Incline Curl:
8x35lb / hand @ 7.5
5x35lb @ 10
10x30lb / hand @ 8.5
8x30lb / hand @ 10
90 second rests
Front Foot Elevated Dumbbell Split Squat:
10x40lb
10x40lb
10x40lb @ 6
90 second rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had a pretty long day at work yesterday, and then wanted to watch Andor last night so I didn't think I quite got 7 hours sleep and the Garmin said it was 6 hours and 59 minutes. So yeah, that 4:30am alarm was a bit unwelcome this morning, but I wasn't awfully reluctant to train so I guess that's something.
Training Notes:
Swiss bar bench again, I like this protocol of a few heavier but easier sets, then a 10% load drop for higher reps. I'd actually planned 10-12 with the lighter weight but it felt good enough to bang out 15 - shoulder isn't completely painless, but it's a lot more comfortable than it used to be so I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Haven't done these Helms rows in a while, and the first set really had my lats feeling the stretch. Third set got quite challenging.
Some nice safe skullcrushers, elbows were a bit clicky but not too bad.
For some reason I was feeling masochistic this morning and decided to go a little heavier with the curls. Actually hit failure with my left arm in the second set and then the last set was a max for that side as well.
Bit more weight on the light squats and was pleasantly surprised, I got a burn but it wasn't as bad as I expected.
Just 45 minutes today. Things seem to be on track for transitioning to some heavier training again in a couple of weeks time.
Lateral Raise:
12x10lb / hand
12x10lb / hand
1 minute rest
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had pretty long and decent sleep last night. Did some chores this morning, lifted late morning, went out to buy food and mower fuel, ate lunch, mowed and trimmed lawns and helped the wife clean out the gutters, showered, and now I'm finally sitting down for some quiet time before I wash dishes and cook dinner. No wonder the weekends go so fast.
Training Notes:
Did a triple instead of a double today and left the heavy single out, this was heavy enough and caused some soreness. Felt like it moved pretty slow but on video it really wasn't, I'm just way out of practice. And also unfit, I pushed the third back off set a little harder and while it wasn't all that heavy it had me blowing.
Tried to focus on tempo and quality reps with the split squats and they felt a lot better than last week - it helps having the same weight in both hands.
I'd only programmed two sets of hamstring curls but I kinda lost my mojo in the second so did a third harder set. My hamstrings were sore afterwards, I'm gonna feel these tomorrow.
Squeeze presses were easy. Triceps pushdowns were disappointing again, I'm going backwards with these, although I probably need to lubricate the machine. So I did extra sets.
Shoulder felt a lot better than last week with the lateral raises so that's positive.
All finished in 50 minutes. Reasonably good effort.
Dumbbell Thruster:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand @ 7
90 seconds rest
Banded SSB Side Step Up:
12x67kg
12x67kg
12x67kg
90 second rests
Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press:
15x30lb
15x30lb
90 seconds rest
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Would've expected decent sleep after all that work yesterday. Nope. Kiddo interrupted it, then my hip was keeping me awake, then I got up early to watch quali, so I felt pretty knackered this morning. Chest cold still hasn't buggered off, legs were sore, plus the tiredness meant I was a bit reluctant to train but eh. At least there was no time crunch.
Training Notes:
Stuffed up the weight for bench, I thought I'd managed 65kg last week so 70kg would've only been a 5kg jump. Did a set of eight but it was a little more uncomfortable than I was happy with so dropped the load a little and squeezed out a couple more reps without hurting too bad.
Did the dumbbell flys with the weight that was already loaded and got a decent tempo going, by the end of the second set I had a pretty fair chest burn.
Just a skootch more weight on the seated rows, and on short breaks the third set got a little bit challenging. Did a slightly longer static hold too.
Was too lazy to change plates so attempted the thrusters with 5lb more than last week, got twelves but my left arm was really lagging in the second set and I just couldn't be bothered doing a third, I was puffed out.
I did add 5kg to the step ups and got them fairly easily, although I was blowing a fair bit there too.
On the spur of the moment decided to do some unilateral overhead press just to get a bit more work into the shoulder. Chose load very carefully by using what was already set up. These weren't hard but my right shoulder was a touch sore afterwards.
Walking Lunge:
15x20lb / hand
15x20lb / hand
15x20lb / hand
2 minute rests
3:1:0 Tempo Medium Grip Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
5x60kg
3x80kg
3x80kg
3x80kg
8x65kg
8x65kg
1 minute rests
Dumbbell Row:
10x65lb / hand
10x65lb / hand
10x65lb / hand @ 6.5
2 minute rests
Plyo Box Step Up:
10xBW
10x20lb / hand
10x20lb / hand
About 1 minute rests
Lateral Raise:
3x12.5lb / hand nope
12x5lb / hand
12x5lb / hand
1 minute rests
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Logging this a week after the session but the big news is I hadn't trained in 10 days or so. We had a trip away for the long weekend planned so I was always intending a few days break anyway, but I woke up the Tuesday prior and decided I was sick of having this cough and these injury niggles and that maybe I'd be best served by catching up on some sleep for a few more days and not lifting until after we got back. So that's what I did. And it ended up being ten days completely off (with a LOT of walking while we were away). The good news is my body felt a bit less tired although the shoulder and leg were still not 100% and the cough was still there too.
Training Notes:
Took the walking lunges very light because I didn't want to lose shape with fatigue and aggravate the leg, which was a bit tight after the second set.
Kept hitting the j-hook on the first set of 80kg bench otherwise I'd have probably done fives. The rest was all fairly easy.
Dumbbell rows were no joke by the last set.
Wanted to try plyo box step ups. A few months ago stepping up to a box this high would've been too painful to contemplate so it was good to do them. The weighted sets did stretch the leg a bit but didn't hurt exactly.
Tried some heavier lateral raises but they were too uncomfortable to tolerate so I did the smart thing and dropped the load a lot. The 5lb sets were very easy.
I had reasonable sleep the night before this session and an ok morning so I kinda wanted to train even though I've enjoyed a few more days off.
Training Notes:
Just worked up to a couple of challenging sets with the leg extensions, normally just go straight to heavy work so this was something different.
My quads were pleasantly warm before starting the step ups, and things felt good enough that I pushed the last set a bit further.
Turns out the RDLs is as heavy as I've ever gone with these and I had sore glutes afterwards.
Shoulder didn't feel all that great for the first set of dumbbell bench but it did improve a bit for the second.
Felt kinda lazy with the curls so took longish breaks, and didn't start to get too challenging until the last set.
Did some decline situps, ran out of gas fast as usual then dropped the bench to what I thought was flat, but the first set was actually still a slight decline. I had ab DOMS for multiple days after these.
Background Noise: The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
Walking Lunge:
20x25lb / hand
20x25lb / hand
90 seconds rest
Plyo Box Step Up:
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
90 second rests
3:1:0 Tempo Medium Grip Bench Press:
10x20kg
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
5x80kg
8x67.5kg
8x67.5kg @ 6.5
90 second rests
Dumbbell LTE:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand @ 7
90 second rests
Decline Sit Up:
10 reps @ 6
8 reps @ 9.5
5 reps @ 10
90 second rests
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had intended to train Sunday too but noped out on it and (mostly) rested instead. Then Monday was an early start for the F1, so no lifting. Slept ok that night, but was still pretty tired, and still had mad ab DOMS from Saturday's sit ups. Thought my cough was almost gone at the time but now I'm logging this 36 hours later there is still expectoration so probably not.
Training Notes:
Went slightly heavier with the lunges. Wasn't too puffed, that was OK.
Same weight for the step ups but twelves across. Not too painful.
Decided to try for top sets of five on bench. The first set stretched my shoulder a bit but the second felt a lot better. Decided to be sensible and stop the heavier sets there, and the lighter sets weren't uncomfortable at all, although the last set got a bit challenging. I'm so weak right now.
First set of LTEs felt really heavy and the last set got kinda hard. Wow.
Did some more sit ups purely because I wanted to make the DOMS go away faster. Didn't work. Performed much worse than Saturday to boot.
Wasn't a bad session really, but I don't see myself training heavy for quite a while yet at this rate. Took 43 minutes.
Dumbbell Fly:
15x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand
1 minute rest
Seated Dumbbell Press:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand @ 7.5
90 second rests
Hammer Curl:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand @ 7.5
90 second rests
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Slept reasonably well, although I did get woken up a couple of times. Didn't feel terribly tired but it still took me a while to get out to the gym, because reasons.
Training Notes:
Did this 'warm up to some heavy sets' malarkey with the leg extensions again, but a bit heavier. Still had some in the tank, but the IT band/tendon/hip thing was starting to stretch out and I wanted to play it safe.
Added some weight to the step ups as well, these went fine.
Some hamstring curls, pushed the second set reasonably hard, but my lower back was a bit done (did I mention THAT has been tight for weeks too?) so I called it after two.
Couple of sets of flys because I didn't plan on benching and wanted to do some chest. Pretty easy I guess.
Some lightish dumbbell press, although the last set did start to get a bit challenging by the end.
Then some curls. I was feeling unmotivated for these and originally thought I'd just do two sets but managed three in the end even if I didn't push the last all that hard.
Nice and quick at 39 minutes, which was what I wanted this morning.
Plyo Box Step Up:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
90 second rests
EZ Bar Curl:
8x30kg
8x30kg @ 8.5
90 seconds rest
Pinwheel Curl:
8x30lb / hand @ 9
10x25lb / hand @ 6
12x25lb / hand @ 8
90 second rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Slept well, but got up early to watch the replay of quali and ended up getting into the gym fairly early (before 10am) too.
Training Notes:
My shoulder really didn't love the first 70kg rep, and I probably should warm it up with lower weights but don't want to muck about changing so many plates. Did one slightly heavier rep, felt sad about how heavy a sub 100kg single felt, then did a bit of light volume at a tolerable load. It occurred to me that the pain is only really in the bottom position so I could probably do some heavier training with spoto or pin bench. Made a mental note to slot that in, probably the latter.
The lat pulldowns felt really heavy and I put a bit of effort into these. Kinda regretted it later when I pulled up with back DOMS and a slightly sore shoulder.
Did some plyo box step ups which weren't very exciting, got some blood flowing.
Finished with biceps, originally planned just the pinwheel curls but decided to do some EZ bar curls first and prefatigue them. These got tough and again gave me a good dose of DOMS. My recovery just sucks lately.
Still, it was a pretty good effort in 51 minutes. Went out afterwards and bought a new toy for the gym.
Dumbbell Squeeze Press:
12x45lb / hand
12x45lb / hand
15x45lb / hand
1 minute rests
Roman Chair Sit Up:
12xBW
12xBW
12xBW
1 minute rests
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Had a late night Sunday night watching F1, so unsurprisingly, slept really solidly last night. Surprisingly enough, didn't feel completely zonked when I rolled out of bed at 4:45am, and wasn't even that reluctant to train. Just reluctant to deadlift.
Training Notes:
Forced myself to do some RDLs, even though I didn't really want to. Struggled to even unpack the 120kg set but once I got going they felt ok, apart from the aggressive knurling tearing up my hands. Heavy enough to be challenging, but didn't hurt anything, which proper heavy pulls probably would have.
Stuck with the same protocol I've been using for the leg extensions, but added a scooch of weight and a set this week.
Tried out the new toy I mentioned, picked up a second hand roman chair the other day. I've never done back extensions but given the tightness I've had lately I figured they'd be a useful tool. Anyway, I did a few sets at body weight, these were very easy but I want to get used to them before adding weight. Liked them, was well worth the $60 I spent on the equipment.
Did some nice easy squeeze presses, and even felt good enough to push the last set out to fifteen reps. Even that set wasn't very hard and these are shoulder safe so happy days.
Tried out some sit ups on the roman chair to finish - didn't like these as much as the back extensions, they were super comfortable despite me mucking with adjustments, but still might be handy to hit sit ups / crunches from a different angle and maybe do some side bends and stuff too.
Done in 38 minutes, so ended up being a pretty quick and fairly easy session.
Dumbbell Fly:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
1 minute rest
Roman Chair Row:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
1 minute rest
Dumbbell LTE:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
15x32.5lb / hand
90 second rests
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Woke up before 5am without an alarm, and decided to go out and do this session a day earlier than planned, mostly because I was keen to try out pin bench. Turned out that was a fail. But whatever.
Training Notes:
Worked up to a rep with 70kg, which caused some minor shoulder pain at the bottom, and I racked it in disgust. It probably would have got better after warming up but I just didn't feel up for it so backed the weight down to something stupidly light and just got some blood flowing.
Did some flys, a little heavier than I've gone since the injury, no big deal though - these were fine.
Was mucking about and decided to try rows in the roman chair. They were a bit of a silly idea, because I probably can't load them heavy enough to be effective for upper back training, my lower back would be the limiting factor. I did feel these in my hamstrings though so maybe they're worth throwing in for funsies occasionally.
Some triceps work to finish, and they were much easier than last time out, so much so I did a few extra reps in the last set. My elbows felt like trash all the way through though.
Super quick today, 27 minutes, I wanted to get to work early.
