BenM wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:57 pm
Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press
I know that it’s not what you were doing, but this reminded me that one never sees anyone doing alternating dumbbell movements anymore (e.g. alternating DB bench press), when that variation on movements used to be a standard thing that you’d see in all the mags back in the day. Might try to bring them back into fashion. I did do alternating curls for a bit, a few months back. They were fun because the body english that they permit enables you to lift far heavier DBs than you ever could doing both arms together.
That's how I always do my dumbbell hammer curls these days. I like it mostly because it gives each arm a little rest between reps, and it just feels less boring than repping one arm over and over again. I do reverse lunges that way too. But not split squats or normal lunges or concentration curls..... huh.
With the benching I kinda thought half the point was having to stabilise with an uneven load, which mightn't work so well if you were holding one in each hand. And I feel like it'd be exhausting switching one dumbbell between hands all the time. But it might not be too bad, I'll have to give it a try!
slowmotion wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 1:37 am
Nice work, Ben! Setting new PRs every day!
It kinda feels like they're Claytons PRs since it's a lift I haven't ever really explored for long periods but squatting any kind of weight for tens isn't fun. Also they're not to full comp depth but that's actually deliberate. But I'm just glad to be able to train....
BenM wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 2:32 am
With the benching I kinda thought half the point was having to stabilise with an uneven load, which mightn't work so well if you were holding one in each hand. And I feel like it'd be exhausting switching one dumbbell between hands all the time. But it might not be too bad, I'll have to give it a try!
BenM wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 2:32 am
With the benching I kinda thought half the point was having to stabilise with an uneven load, which mightn't work so well if you were holding one in each hand. And I feel like it'd be exhausting switching one dumbbell between hands all the time. But it might not be too bad, I'll have to give it a try!
Lol agree, that would be a next level variation.
Actually I've done single arm clean and press with a dumbbell, alternating arms. It was tiring. It wouldn't be much different than that, just lying down. Bench cardio.
Dumbbell Triceps Kickback:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand @ 8.5
--- Supersetted with --- EZ Bar Curl:
8x30kg
8x30kg
7x30kg @ 9.5
2 minute rests between supersets
Reverse Lunge:
8x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand @ 6.5
2 minutes then 2.5 minutes rest
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Slept not terribly badly, but maybe 7/10 - was a little tired this morning but not unmotivated.
Training Notes:
Seriously thought about just going lighter this morning but glad I didn't. Bench warmups felt pretty good so I added 2.5kg to the top set and got eight again, shoulder held up pretty well there too. Given that the best comp bench I've got in the log is 8x100kg @ 9, getting eight today with the narrower grip was pleasing. So I added a little weight to the back off sets too and then did one more lighter set after that. My right side is still clearly weaker and lagging behind my left, but it's not as bad as it was, and I think the camera angle makes it look worse than it is. Hopefully that'll catch up in time.
Bit more weight on the lat pull downs as well. Last set was hard, realised later that I've been doing four sets in this slot but didn't today. Oh well.
Triceps and biceps after that - would have really liked a third set of eight with the curls but don't think it was there, I was pretty well done by that point.
Despite that I did chuck in some reverse lunges to get a bit of a quad burn, but my wrists and forearms were struggling a bit and I cut the first set short. Second and third they were a little recovered but my lower back was getting seriously pumped. That third set was not terribly hard for my legs but was RPE 9 for my back. Over it.
Was feeling pretty depressed at work yesterday and there was a morning tea on so I comforted myself with a bit more sweet food than normal. Not beating myself up about that at all, it was totally under control, but my weight's been trending up a bit quicker than ideal and I don't want to drop back to maintenance for at least another month or so yet so I've just gotta be a bit sensible how I eat. It's always the way though, the more carbs I eat the more carbs I want.
Other than that, actually slept quite well and got up before the alarm so I was lifting at bang on 5am, which was probably lucky considering how it dragged on.
Training Notes:
I don't know what to say about deadlifts today. Worked up to a triple at 210kg which honestly felt pretty good, maybe RPE 8 which is PR territory - this equals the most I've ever pulled for a triple and I think it was easier than last time. But then I just completely lost my mojo in the first back off set, it felt like shit, my back didn't feel locked in, and I bailed after two reps. Took two minutes to rest and reset, then what do you know, I got a really solid set of eight which felt pretty good all round. Put the bar down, walked to my desk and sat down - then my lungs realised they were completely empty and all of a sudden I was gassed. Another two minutes rest probably wasn't enough, I knocked out a scrappy set of five, and then tried again after two minutes more but my heart (and head) just wasn't in it. Dropped the bar in disgust after one rep and quit - maybe should have rested longer and gone again but this'll have to do.
Had to take a toilet break after that which was long enough to cool down a fair bit, but I added 5kg to last week's work sets and got my 42 reps again. The final set was starting to get pretty hard though, I may be about to hit the wall with these.
After that did some incline benching with a little more weight than last week, it all felt pretty solid and the last set was no harder so going OK there. Kept the cable crunches at the same weight, pushed the last set to fifteen, and don't think form broke down quite so egregiously as last week either so that was also an improvement.
Took 74 minutes all up, including the break. I kinda felt pretty crappy about the deadlifts but really shouldn't, I mean I got a couple of pretty good sets done and it's one lift where sometimes it's really hard to push myself especially if things aren't feeling good. I didn't hurt myself, all the other lifting was decent, and even a crappy session is better than no session so just shut up brain. Keep doing the thing.
At least you got a new PR on the cardio deads. And you stopped when you felt it was enough deadlifting for the day, which is good. You'll deadlift again another day.
slowmotion wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 12:39 am
At least you got a new PR on the cardio deads. And you stopped when you felt it was enough deadlifting for the day, which is good. You'll deadlift again another day.
Yeah, totally. I often get a little down when I'm in the gym and not getting the output I expect from myself, but once the caffeine wears off I usually take it in my stride - there was a lot of good in that session.
I actually just banged the numbers into the RPE chart and heck, the best I've ever pulled for a single is 240kg, those two top sets put my 1RM right around that, and if I can always grind out more from a deadlift than I think. There's 245kg in me right now if not 250kg which is something to cheer about while my bench and squat have been so affected by injuries.
Don't normally train Friday mornings, but I got to bed on time and figured if I woke up early enough I'd get it done and free up some more weekend time for other things. Sure enough I woke up at 4:40am without an alarm so I made it happen. Of course some of the stuff I want to do is outdoors and it's supposed to rain tomorrow so I might train anyway, we'll see.
Training Notes:
I was only supposed to bench a 117.5kg single this morning but I was kinda pushed for time so I thought stuff it, let's just throw two reds on and not faff about with little plates. First one felt pretty good, definitely could've doubled it at least. Second one moved a lot slower but I only took 90 seconds rest, fluffed the unrack, and then held the pause for a bit longer so you get that! Keeping the work sets pretty conservative on this lift because shoulder, but I did feel like these were easy enough that I pushed the last set out to eight reps for funsies. I should probably add some weight or a set to these next week.
I programmed three sets of eight with 65lb for the incline bench but then went and did sets of ten - they all felt pretty hard and heavy but after all the prior work I can live with that.
Did the rows before triceps again this week, these just felt heavy from the get go too, and I was doubting I'd even get three sets of twelve to begin with. The last set was pretty hard but ok, I even got a slightly longer hold at the end.
Gripped a bit wide (again) on the on the first set of triceps extensions and my elbows were getting janky, hence only doing ten reps. Maybe a good thing, the next set of twelve was hard, and the last set got stuck at the end and almost didn't go, there wasn't another one there.
Made a little concession to my shoulder and dropped some load for the upright rows, also I just wanted to get them done quickly and get on with walking the dog and all the other morning things. Nice and pumpy.
Squeezed this all in in 54 minutes which was nice.
RDL to Floor:
8x145kg (PR for 8; +5kg)
8x145kg
8x145kg @ 8
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
12x65kg
12x65kg
16x65kg @ 9
--- Supersetted with --- Single Arm Dumbbell Bench:
12x47.5lb
12x47.5lb
15x47.5lb
2 minute rests between supersets
Had a busy day yesterday, rain stayed away so mowed lawns and stuff, slept well last night. Stuff to do today too, so got into the gym at 9am, straight after breakfast.
Got a new camera yesterday and wanted to try it out, it's great being able to record in 4K, shame the video editor I use will only export 720p unless I sprint for a licence, sigh.
Training Notes:
I'd programmed in a heavier set of six today for these squats but I didn't bother, in my defence I did do a heavier triple instead of a double, added 5kg to the top single and the work sets, and I pushed myself hard for ten reps in the last and got very puffed. So that was OK.
Went a bit harder at the RDLs too. I've gone a bit heavier than this with RDLs to my shins but floor RDLs this is getting up there. Last set was hard but not a max or anything.
Leg extensions and single arm dumbbell bench, wasn't going to push the leg extensions but got to the last set and made an effort - got one more rep than last week but the quad burn was real. The benching was still easy even at fifteen reps and shoulder felt good throughout.
Added 5kg to the rows too, but didn't really push very hard until I'd done a couple of sets already. Actually considered one more set but noped out of that idea pretty quick.
Finished in 62 minutes, then went and washed the car. Solid weekend's work, but couch time this afternoon and F1 tonight is calling.
Dumbbell Triceps Kickback:
10x35lb / hand
10x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand @ 8.5
--- Supersetted With --- EZ Bar Curl:
8x27.5kg
8x27.5kg
10x27.5kg @ 9.5
2 minute rests between supersets
Reverse Lunge:
12x25lb / hand
12x25lb / hand
12x25lb / hand
2 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Was super tired last night and crashed pretty hard, but I have some new glute/hip pain (on the side that hasn't been chronically injured for like 3 years) and it was bad enough to keep waking me up and making it hard to sleep again. So it was an interrupted night's sleep and I woke up tired. But I've still gotta lift.
New camera worked ok but it was super slow editing the 4K video on Sunday so I dropped it back to 2.7K today. Which did seem to help the editing speed, but also seems like it broke the dewarp setting so the footage has a fair bit of fisheye going on. Then I mucked about with a different video editor so I could export in higher res and it's a ballache learning new stuff but I fudged my way through and made some kind of edit from it. Which was good because it's been a kinda crappy day at work today and figuring out the basics of Davinci Resolve might be the most useful thing I actually achieved. So fulfilled, much wow.
Training Notes:
Seeing as this is probably the last week before a deload (yay four week block) it was a good day to just do a bunch of hard sets and that's how it went. Got my eight with a hundred, got my back off sets, and one more lighter set for good measure. Only mild shoulder tightness all the way through, it held up pretty well, and the sets don't look awfully lopsided either if you can tell through the distortion.
Added a little weight to the lat pulldowns, started to run out of gas after three, but got some work done.
More weight for the triceps, a little less for the triceps, last set of each was difficult especially the curls, but good effort.
With the glute/hip pain (and potential grip issues) I took some plates off the dumbbells and went pretty light with the lunges, my hip started to twinge a bit in the second set but it's fine if I stay focussed and keep my knees forward. No idea if I'll be deadlifting and squatting this week, we'll see.
Slept pretty well really. Could've probably got up even earlier.
Training Notes:
Was supposed to deadlift today but I tried two reps with a warmup weight and my right glute was immediately sore at lockout, I don't think I should be loading it up at all. It's improved from where it was a few days ago in that it's not keeping me awake at night now so hopefully it'll come good within a week or two, I was going to take a slightly lighter week next week anyway. So I just did some light hamstring curls which didn't hurt at all.
The belt squats didn't seem to bother it so I did those no trouble, added 5kg to the weight I used last week, as usual my (other) hip was a bit stretched to begin with but quietened down after the first set. Would've been happy just to get tens but even managed to push the fourth set reasonably hard to the point where I might've been struggling for one more.
Up to 55lb for the benching purely because it is easier to load the dumbbells with the two 22.5lb plates, and managed my twelves again with a reasonably challenging last set. My shoulder was a bit tighter to start with than last week, but didn't hurt at all so it's going OK.
Wasn't super happy with the cable crunches, this weight is starting to get too heavy for my abs and my upper back takes over a bit. I think that point used to happen at about 40kg though so I might be a bit stronger. That's the main reason I dropped the load for the last set, and saw an immediate increase in ROM.
Finished off with some back extensions on a whim, just to get a bit of work in. First set got a bit of a back pump but the second was better, remembered to squeeze glutes at the top.
Took an extra day off training yesterday, I probably could've squeezed a session in but I just felt tired and really couldn't be bothered. Got a decent night's sleep, had a lazy morning, then got out and hit it fairly hard for the last session of this 4 week block.
Training Notes:
Wanted to work up to a pretty heavy single today, shoulder didn't hurt at all so I threw up 125kg. It got a bit stuck and moved really slow - I called it RPE 10 because I definitely didn't have another rep in me, but I could've ground it out with at least a couple more kilos. Much happier with the 120kg rep I did after that, it moved pretty well, and the back off work was all fine too although I didn't feel like pushing the third set past six reps today.
Went with the same weight as last week for the dumbbell benching and that definitely felt a bit easier than last week, so I pushed the last set out to twelve with those instead.
Added a little weight to the seal rows, but dropped back to tens with the intention of doing four sets. Managed to get those done, with a decently long hold at the end of the fourth set.
Heavier with the triceps work too, and don't think I'd have got one more clean rep out of the last two sets there.
Kept the upright rows pretty chill again, although it was still a little bit more than last time out.
RDL to Floor:
8x70kg
12x110kg
12x110kg
12x110kg
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
12x57.5kg
12x57.5kg
12x57.5kg
--- Supersetted with --- Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press:
12x45lb / hand
12x45lb / hand
12x45lb / hand
2 minute rests between supersets
Had a big fight with wife and daughter Sunday arvo, so not a great night at all and then a really busy / stressful day at work yesterday too, so even though I got to bed on time I'm putting last night's crappy sleep down to all of that. Was glad I had this week down as a light week.
Training Notes:
Did some squats. Stretched my hip out a little, but not much. This was heavy enough to feel like work, but easy enough that it didn't completely suck and I could have kept doing sets. Planning on fives this block, so it'll get heavy soon enough.
Did a warmup set with the RDLs to see how that glute thing felt, but it felt fine today so I threw on a little more weight and did some nice easy twelves. Wasn't even blowing that hard by the end. Might actually do pulls from the floor in the deadlift session later in the week.
Probably need to rotate these leg extensions out because my right knee is getting pretty sore again, but I like these easy single arm bench presses and they make such a nice superset. All straightforward light work, but still enough to get the quads burning a bit.
Finished with some rows, was actually a bit surprised to get twelves pretty easily and with no egregious cheating. All felt pretty good.
Was in bed way too late last night because herding cats I mean kids, and it was Ahsoka night. Work has also kinda sucked this week so I woke up feeling very underslept and unmotivated even for upper body stuff. But whatevs, it's a deload, so I did it and didn't even waste time videoing, so I let Google play what she wanted and didn't have to worry about copyright.
Training Notes:
Even this light weight for bench felt kinda heavy today and had me puffing a bit. Moved alright though.
A few relatively easy sets of lat pulldowns, thought about a fourth but CBFed.
Changed up the triceps and biceps today, tried some LTEs with the dumbbells, my left elbow felt a bit janky even at this pretty light weight but they were otherwise not very hard. I kinda miss being able to get a decent triceps pump but I don't seem to get that much any more.
Probably pushed the curls a little harder than a true deload week would indicate, but biceps are important (hah).
Too lazy to do reverse lunges with weight so I just walked around doing bodyweight lunges, got a bit of a burn and sweat going.
Done in 51 minutes. Got a couple more lighter sessions planned, and a couple of days of work travel next week which might interrupt things a bit too.
BenM wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 12:07 am
[*]Probably pushed the curls a little harder than a true deload week would indicate, but biceps are important (hah).
BenM wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 12:07 am
[*]Probably pushed the curls a little harder than a true deload week would indicate, but biceps are important (hah).
Looking suspiciously at your parenthetical.
Let's face it, no matter what Rip says, who doesn't want big arms.
Back Extension:
15xBW+10kg
20xBW+10kg @ 7
2 minutes rest
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Got more than eight hours sleep last night but it was a bit patchy, the dog still expected to go for his walk at 6am and jumped all over us. And I woke up with a headache, and feeling kinda achy and old. But it's grand final day so I got the housework done and got into the gym before 11am so I could get couch time this arvo.
Training Notes:
Did some deadlifts, glute felt fine so worked up to a single which was maybe RPE 6 if that and then did some fives which fell nicely in between 'stupidly easy' and 'hard sets'. Every now and again if I move the wrong way I get reminded that I do still have a little tweak lurking there but just gotta manage it a while longer, I guess.
About a ten percent load drop on the belt squats I guess, these stretched my hip a little but didn't push it very hard, even with a last set that got kinda challenging.
Dropped some weight off the dumbbell bench too and got some easy work in, shoulder was a bit tight to start with but fine after the first set.
Cable crunches were a bit lighter too, just kept banging out pretty easy sets as quick as I could, and pushed the last a bit further. Probably had a few more in me but I was starting to lose shape a bit and it's supposed to be a lighter week so meh.
Did some back extensions as an afterthought again, with some extra weight this week. Apparently twenty is the best I've managed with ten kilos but it's not the first time I've done it.
BenM wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 12:07 am
[*]Probably pushed the curls a little harder than a true deload week would indicate, but biceps are important (hah).
Looking suspiciously at your parenthetical.
Let's face it, no matter what Rip says, who doesn't want big arms.
Legit every dude who ever walked into a gym, before stupid internet powerlifter shit told us that we shouldn’t.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise:
12x20lb / hand
12x20lb / hand
12x15lb / hand
2 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
I'd actually planned on training yesterday afternoon but after washing the car and other jobs in the morning I decided to have some downtime instead. Which meant getting up at stupid o'clock on a Monday morning after short, broken sleep because my body clock is still adjusting to the daylight savings change on the weekend, yay. But whatever, last session of a deload week so just get something done and maybe try a bit harder next time. Which might have to be another early session tomorrow if I can be bothered. Or not.
Swung a golf club for the first time in a few years yesterday too, since I'm supposed to be having a game on Wednesday. Right shoulder and right elbow didn't like it much, but I might be OK if I swing at like 85% and below. Guess I'm unlikely to go back to playing regularly, which is a shame.
Training Notes:
Decent bit of benching - completely fluffed the unrack for the single but it stil moved OK and didn't hurt at all. Then I went a bit heavier on the work sets than what I programmed, but they were still pretty easy. And I had programmed eights for the dumbbell sets but did tens without really approaching failure so that's fine. Did rows with the same weight basically because I was too lazy to change plates and again found them pretty easy.
Some light triceps, and even at this weight my elbows were annoyed so I need to find something else for triceps in the next block.
Subbed in lateral raises to see how they felt, and had no shoulder zaps in the first set which was good. Very, very mild in the second, but enough to make me drop load. It's improved a lot but still not there yet, I guess.
RDL to Floor:
10x125kg
10x125kg
10x125kg
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
10x65kg
10x65kg
10x65kg
--- Supersetted with --- Single Arm Dumbbell Bench:
10x50lb / hand (PR; +2.5lb)
10x50lb / hand
10x50lb / hand
2 minute rests between supersets
Slept OK, actually could have got up earlier - but lay in bed for a while thinking about whether to get up and do this since I was going to be in the car for hours today travelling for work. Obviously I figured it was worth doing. But I'm only logging it now, three days later.
Training Notes:
Decided to start slowly bringing back squats without the box and today's RX was a paused triple before box squats for back downs. All went OK, apart from feeling heavy and out of practice, and some weird left knee pain mid way through the work sets - it's my right that's stuffed so that was a bit unexpected. No ill effects afterwards though.
Kept the RDLs reasonably light, I was blowing a little at the end but nothing major.
I'd actually RX'd just two sets of leg extensions to save the aforementioned bad knee but went light enough to bang out three anyway. Didn't make any notes about the benching so I guess there's not much to say.
Some rows to finish which were pretty solid, pushing towards failure at the end.
