After just a day of strict dieting my body composition looks completely different. Guess it was just glycogen bloat.
Today sucked, though I had fun. Not only was I hungry but my abs are still sore from ab wheel rolling on Sunday.
SSB box squats:
155 x 5
245 x 5
415 x 2, 3
> Shaky under the bar, but legs felt strong. Need to either eat more or train sooner post-meal.
Squat walkout:
515 x 20 seconds
Leg press + calf raises
Planks
Swam four laps, then floundered around in the water and practiced swimming form for awhile. Four used to be a peak, but now I can hit it everytime pretty easily. It's all about the form and learning to not just muscle through the water.
Yesterday: swam laps and then went on an hour walk right after.
Today I used the Swiss bar to bench. Actually not as bad as I thought it would be. The key is to keep the bar completely flat (it feels good to let it angle a little, like you might allow with dumbbells, but this must be resisted) and to unrack swiftly. Unfortunately, I didn't feel good about my chesticular ability by 190. No pain, but that distant sensation in a problem area that separates the wise from the weak. Decided to slash my training max and make floor presses my new best friend until I'm healed 100%.
Swiss bar floor press:
215 x 5
235 x 10
> Whew, what is with light floor presses tiring my triceps out like this lately? I surmise it's from the arms sinking into the floor each rep. Seems like it's blocking the shoulders and pectorals from helping out like they would in a bench press, especially with the Swiss bar. Felt like all triceps.
Pause floor press:
155 x 5 x 10
> Boring. Boring...but big.
Dumbbell rows:
100 x 5 x 10
> Absurdly strict. Just gonna drive myself crazy here for a cycle before switching to Kroc rows.
Curls:
Whatever.
Belly's looking fatter and arms seem massive, but last time I weighed myself I was only 211. Weird, but as long as I'm strong.
Deloaded on deadlifts today since I've already been doing 5/3/1 for them all along and I did the first day for them last week.
Deadlifts:
195 x 5 (Fat Gripz)
245 x 5 (Fat Gripz)
295 x 5
SSB good mornings:
170 x 5 x 10
Standing ab wheel rollouts:
5 x 5
I've procured a Swiss bar. Felt good to go a session without tricep extensions.
I'm doing 5/3/1, four days a week. I'm not going to miss max effort dumbbell work.
Swiss bar press:
125 x 5
140 x 5
160 x 10
> Had a few more in me, but not looking to exhaust myself right now. I actually wasn't sure by the end of it whether I'd done 9 or 10, so I did an extra rep just to be sure. It might have been 11 but I'm counting it as 10.
Fat Gripz Swiss bar press:
125 x 10
115 x 10 x 4
> Underestimated this. 115 is the weight to proceed from.
Chin-ups:
10, 10
> Switched to v-handle because it feels better on my shoulder.
V-handle chin-ups:
8, 7, 6, 5, 4
> Aiming for 50 total reps in as few sets as possible. Trying to work toward 5 x 10.
External band rotations
> 15, 15
Fun day. Was in and out of the gym fast. I bet my recovery is going to be kick-ass now that I don't have to deadlift the weight up every press set.
Swam laps today. Really makes my shoulders feel good.
Yesterday:
SSB box squat:
410 x 5
> Used the belt. Despite a painful back everything went great.
Squat walkout:
515, 20 seconds
> Taking a cue from Emevas to use these super heavy for squat training post-squats instead of as a pre-squat primer. I find it doesn't really make a huge difference for box squats, for some reason. I'll take anything I can for squat training since I still can't squat without a box.
Pause floor press:
225 x 7, 8, 8
> Staying light because I'm still cautious about pressing horizontally, but so far so good. No pain. Suprisingly good resistance from this when taking it slow.
Incline skullcrushers with Fat Gripz:
40s x 8
30s x 10, 8
Went home, pigged out on an Indian recipe I'd made the night before, then went to the park.
Neutral-grip chin-ups:
18, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 5
> Good quality reps - a dead hang on every one and zero cheating.
Swam today, as I have been pretty consistently for the last two months.
Back is sore as hell but it was worth the deadlift PR. The swim helped, and now I'm foam rolling before bed.
Deadlifts:
315 x 5
375 x 3
425 x 12
> Head wasn't in the game; hungry and a little perturbed from having lost my headphones. I was supposed to do 325 instead of 315 on the first set, and 5 reps instead of 3 on the second. Still, owned this. Couldn't believe how light the weight felt. I've found it really helps to start counting down backward (thanks, Poliquin).
Push-ups super-set with mini + monster mini band rows:
25, 13, 12, 10, 10 25, 20, 20, 16, 20
> Sticking with calisthenics for horizontal pressing and making OHP my main movement until I feel comfortable maxing out using my chest again.
Mini band expansion:
12
Back is hurting. 12th deadlift rep was a little bit of a grind, but that usually doesn't do anything. More sure, I need to not sit in a slouched position before I head to the gym. Basic stuff I was stupid about.
SSB box squats:
410 x 4
Overhead press:
185 x 5
> Keeping things easy today for CNS recovery.
NG chin-ups:
17, 15, 12, 6, 5
Body feeling great.
Haven't been keeping up with updates. My last non-deload:
SSB box squats:
405 x 5, 5, 5
Unilateral dumbbell press:
142.5 x 4/2
> Felt something snap in left arm pit on that second rep. And with that, I'm officially retiring this exercise, at least as a main movement. Going this heavy with this much mechanical instability isn't a good idea. If I had the means of using two dumbbells at a time then I could keep going.
Did some light dumbbell rows (100s x 12 - felt too burned out for anything more) and called it a day.
No pain persisted, but a couple days later I was doing deloaded floor press and my armpit pained up, so I reracked. It only hurts under pressure. Handled overhead pressing fine the next session.
Quads are still sore but for the first time in four weeks they're actually notably better and I'll probably be able to full squat next week.
Decided mid-workout today to be wise and not put much pressure on my chest for awhile. I can just focus on overhead pressing as my main movement until I feel safe going back to horizontal pressing.
Deload
SSB box squats:
290 x 5, 5, 5
Leg press:
90 x 15
Dumbbell military press:
60s x 5, 5, 5
Facepulls:
15, 12
Slow push-ups:
15, 12
Slow dumbbell rows:
100 x 15, 12, 10, 10, 10
Lifting with an injured back, so I donned my dad's old weightlifting belt for the first time ever.
Deadlift:
370 x 5
415 x 3
465 x 5
> Felt so strong, but stopped early as back pain set in. Still a PR. Can't wait to see what I can do next cycle after I'm healed.
One-arm overhead press:
80 x 5, 5, 5/8
> 8 reps on right arm for the last set. Right arm is much stronger here, but on dumbbell bench press my prior-injured left is usually the easier side. Weird.
Face-pulls between press sets
Neutral-grip chins:
15, 8, 8, 6, 6
SSB box squats + monster mini bands:
240 x 5, 1
> Back twinged, so terminated the exercise.
Incline dumbbell skullcrushers:
50s x 4
40s x 10, 8
Missed logging last session.
SSB box squat:
400 x 5, 5
Leg press + lying calf raises
Floor press:
300 x 5, 5, 4
> 1-second pause.
Weighted chin-ups:
90 x 5, 5, 5
Skullcrushers + hammer curls
Back sored up again from the squats and quad is still as painful as ever, making it two weeks now. I'm going to stick with box squats with a belt for the rest of this cycle (only two days, anyways). No more quad isolation work for now.
