Phil's Log Of Extraordinary Mediocrity

[omaniphil]

12/23/2017

Week 6 Day 1

Squat
375x1 @8.5
325x4 @8
325x4 @7.5
325x4 @8
325x4 @8.5

Comp Bench
250x1 @9.5
215x4 @8
215x4 @8
215x4 @9
205x4 @8

3 Count Paused Bench
155x8 @7
165x8 @8
170x8 @9.5

On the third backoff bench set, I hit the j-hooks on the third rep, and so that set, which should have been an @8, all of a sudden became a lot harder as lost tightness, and lost balance a bit. Backed off the weight on the last set to compensate. Other than that, feeling pretty good.

[omaniphil]

12/26/2017

Week 6 Day 2

Deadlift
435x1 @8
365x4 @8
365x4 @8
365x4 @8
365x4 @8.5

Press
180x1 @8
165x4 @7.5
165x4 @7.5
165x4 @8
165x4 @8

12/27/2017

Week 6 Day 3

Paused Squat
315x1 @8
275x4 @8.5
275x4 @8.5
275x4 @9

Paused Bench
235x1 @8.5
215x4 @8.5
215x4 @8.5
215x4 @9

Pin Press
105x8 @6
110x8 @7
115x8 @8.5
115x8 @8

Had a brief 24 stomach flu of some sort on Christmas day, so took the day after a little easy. Deadlifts felt awful, but looked ok on video with minimal slowing down on the last rep, so scored them 8s, but I kept wanting to puke by the 4th rep which probably affected my RPE judgment. Presses on the other hand went great. I think 165x4 is a rep PR, and I definitely could have done at least 1-2 more if pushed, so thats not bad.

[omaniphil]

12/29/2017

Week 6 Day 4

Paused Deadlifts
395x1 @8
340x4 @7.5
340x4 @8
340x4 @8.5

TNG Bench
245x1 @8
230x4 @8.5
230x4 @8.5
230x4 @9

Rack Pull
315x8 @6
365x8 @9 Whoops - jumped that too high. Was supposed to be @7 and then another set @8. Just as well, I was really tired and wanted to go home.

Not much else here.

[omaniphil]

12/30/2017

Week 7 Day 1

Comp Squats
385x1 @8.5
330x4 @7.5
330x4 @8
330x4 @8
330x4 @8.5

Comp Bench
240x1 @8.5
210x4 @7.5
210x4 @7.5
210x4 @8
210x4 @8
210x4 @8.5

3ct Paused Bench
155x8 @6
165x8 @7
175x8 @8
175x8 @9

My elbow was feeling a little beat up after squatting, so I dropped the weight a bit on the bench presses as compared to last week, but added an additional set to compensate. Felt pretty good.

[omaniphil]

1/1/2018
Week 7 Day 2

Deadlift
435x1 @9
365x4 @8
365x4 @8.5
355x4 @8
355x4 @8

OHP
185x1 @8
170x4 @8
170x4 @8
170x4 @9
160x4 @8

Paused Squats
225x8 @7
235x8 @8
245x8 @9

A little hungover and tired after a day spent cleaning house, so my top deadlift single, which was supposed to be @8 was @9 instead. It looked slow on video too, so I think it was a legit @9. I felt good with the OHP press though and I think 170x4 might be a rep PR. I think there's a lesson here in that even when you feel bleh, and a single exercise/movement might not feel great, stick it out, because your next exercise might go well - who knows.

I then did attempt some HIIT on the airdyne afterwards, in keeping with my 2018 goal of losing weight, and lol - I need to work up a little. Did 10 seconds on, 120 seconds rest/slow movement, and I only made it 4 cycles before I keeled over and died. The plan will be to do this twice a week, and add a cycle each week, and then once I get to 10, slowly lengthen the work part to 15-20 seconds.

[Allentown]

I then did attempt some HIIT on the airdyne afterwards, in keeping with my 2018 goal of losing weight, and lol - I need to work up a little. Did 10 seconds on, 120 seconds rest/slow movement, and I only made it 4 cycles before I keeled over and died. The plan will be to do this twice a week, and add a cycle each week, and then once I get to 10, slowly lengthen the work part to 15-20 seconds.

Welcome to Airdyne.
I'm not sure there is value in increasing the work time beyond 10 seconds. Watch your wattage- if you can keep it up near peak for 10s then perhaps add time, but IIRC there's a pretty sharp drop around 6-7s even in well-trained people. IMO working the peak wattage, total distance, increasing sets, and cutting rests (probably in that order?) is the path to improvement there. I could be very wrong. You should chime in on the conditioning thread- I'd like to keep the discussion going up there.

[omaniphil]

Welcome to Airdyne.
I'm not sure there is value in increasing the work time beyond 10 seconds. Watch your wattage- if you can keep it up near peak for 10s then perhaps add time, but IIRC there's a pretty sharp drop around 6-7s even in well-trained people. IMO working the peak wattage, total distance, increasing sets, and cutting rests (probably in that order?) is the path to improvement there. I could be very wrong. You should chime in on the conditioning thread- I'd like to keep the discussion going up there.

Thats probably true. We'll see how it goes. doing 10s on is probably enough as long as you can get enough cycles in.

[omaniphil]

1/3/2017

Week 7 Day 3

Paused Squat
320x1 @8
280x4 @8
280x4 @8.5
280x4 @8.5

SlingShot Bench
285x1 @8.5
265x4 @9
265x4 @8.5
265x4 @8.5

Pin Press
105x8 @5
110x8 @7
115x8 @8
115x8 @8.5
115x8 @8

I know its a slingshot bench, so not that impressive, but 285 is the most I've ever held over my head at once, so that was little nerve racking. Nothing like you guys benching 405 or anything, but took me a while to build the nerve up to unrack it. Other than that, today went pretty well. In and out of the gym in less than an hour, which is always nice.

[omaniphil]

1/4/2018

Week 7 Day 4

for accountability going to start tracking bodyweight here. This morning's weigh in was 266.5lbs

Paused Deadlifts
405x1 @8.5
345x4 @8
345x4 @7.5
355x4 @8

TNG Bench
245x1 @8
230x4 @9
230x4 @8.5
230x4 @9

Leg Press
270x10 @4
360x10 @5
410x10 @7
450x10 @8

The leg press slot was supposed to be rack pulls, but my lower back was feeling pretty fatigued, and I skipped a squat slot earlier this week, so figured I'd do some leg hypertrophy work. RPE on Leg Press with sets of 10 is purely arbitrary.

[omaniphil]

1/5/2018

GPP
had fun flopping around on 4 cycles on the Airdyne at 10s fast, 1:50 slow. oof. Next week at 5 cycles will be fun...

[Allentown]

1/5/2018

GPP
had fun flopping around on 4 cycles on the Airdyne at 10s fast, 1:50 slow. oof. Next week at 5 cycles will be fun...

100% effort fast, or "fast?"
I think I was on cycle 6 or 7 or so when I experienced my first (and only) exertion vomit.

[omaniphil]

1/5/2018

GPP
had fun flopping around on 4 cycles on the Airdyne at 10s fast, 1:50 slow. oof. Next week at 5 cycles will be fun...

100% effort fast, or "fast?"
I think I was on cycle 6 or 7 or so when I experienced my first (and only) exertion vomit.

100% fast. The first one wasn't so bad, but I was gasping for air after cycles 2-4. I think you're right about the length of the "on" cycles. I noticed somewhere around second 7-8 that the work output was starting to decrease a bit. Probably not worth increasing the on cycle past 10seconds, btu instead just getting more of those cycles in, shorter rest times, etc. I wonder if this is kind of analogous to the talk elsewhere about intraset tonnage vs total tonnage done across the sets as being the volume driver for hypertrophy.

[omaniphil]

1/6/2018

Week 8 Day 1

Squats
390x1 @8.5
345x4 @8.5
345x4 @8.5
345x4 @9

Comp Bench
245x1 @8.5
215x4 @9 (this is higher than the subsequent sets as I basically went straight from the single into this set with about a minute rest. Subsequent sets had 3-4 minutes rest.
215x4 @8.5
215x4 @8.5

3ct paused Bench
160x8 @6
170x8 @7.5
180x8 @8.5
180x8 @9

Think the 345s are rep PR. I've done 350x3 before, but never 345x4. E1RM is still below what I did at my last meet in October, but I think that is a function of me chronically overrating the actual RPE as well as the fact that I tend to peak really well. As the weight gets heavier though, I think I'm getting closer to accurate RPE ratings.

[Wilhelm]

1/6/2018

Week 8 Day 1

Squats
390x1 @8.5
345x4 @8.5
345x4 @8.5
345x4 @9

Comp Bench
245x1 @8.5
215x4 @9 (this is higher than the subsequent sets as I basically went straight from the single into this set with about a minute rest. Subsequent sets had 3-4 minutes rest.
215x4 @8.5
215x4 @8.5

3ct paused Bench
160x8 @6
170x8 @7.5
180x8 @8.5
180x8 @9

Think the 345s are rep PR. I've done 350x3 before, but never 345x4. E1RM is still below what I did at my last meet in October, but I think that is a function of me chronically overrating the actual RPE as well as the fact that I tend to peak really well. As the weight gets heavier though, I think I'm getting closer to accurate RPE ratings.

Really nice hitting two sets at PR level.

[omaniphil]

Thanks Wilhelm!

1/7/2018

Week 8, Day 2

Deadlift
440x1 @8
375x4 @8.5
375x4 @8.5
375x4 @9

OHP
185x1 @9
175x4 @8.5
175x4 @9
165x4 @9

Pause Squats
185x8 @4
205x8 @6
225x8 @7
225x8 @7

The lower volume this week is a welcome relief. Its fun to play around with heavier weights again, and shorter workouts are always nice. Getting in and out of the gym in an hour and 15 is much better than the longer volume heavy sessions are.

Looking at my deadlifts after recording them, I think I need to try and spend a little bit more time really setting my upper back. My lower back looks ok-ish, but my upper back is a little rounded. Might be ok, but locking it out at the top could be a little more difficult at the heavier weights. Maybe I should try to work in some SGDLs in my next cycle.

[omaniphil]

1/9/2018

Week 8 Day 3

BW 265lbs

Paused Squats
335x1 @8
300x3 @8
300x3 @8
300x3 @8.5

Slingshot Bench Press
290x1 @8
275x3 @9
275x3 @9
275x3 @9

Pin Press
110x8 @6
115x8 @7
120x8 @8
120x8 @8.5
120x8 @8.5

Low volume day today. In an out of the gym in an hour. Came home and did 5 rounds of 10s fast, 1:50 slow on the airdyne. Didn't feel nearly as sick as the airdyne cycles last week - I wonder if that meant I didn't go balls to the walls enough during the 10s on portions.

In another note, based on some of the discussion elsewhere on the site, I tried doing thumbs under (around?) grip. Felt really awkward, and it was hard at first to get loosened up to where it was even possible, but by the time I got to the work sets, I was loose enough. Even though it felt awkward, the narrow grip allowed my upper back to get much tighter. It was only pause squats so they were light today. I'll give this a try this Saturday when I do my main squat work sets.

[Wilhelm]

I want to try thumbs around, but i think i'll wait till after my meet.
I'm not getting any issues from thumbs over, and don't want to introduce any changes just now.

[cole]

Edit: I just answered my own question by reading your intro but I didn't know you were 265. You are a beast !

[omaniphil]

Edit: I just answered my own question by reading your intro but I didn't know you were 265. You are a beast !

Banthas are my spirit animal

[omaniphil]

1/11/2018

Week 8 Day 4

BW 263.2

Paused Deadlift
405x1 @8
365x3 @8.5
365x3 @8.5
365x3 @9

TNG Bench
250x1 @8.5
235x3 @8.5
235x3 @9
235x3 @9

Leg Press
270x10
360x10
450x10
450x10