I’m contemplating a career change that requires a little different physical qualities than I’ve currently been training. So, I’m going to start doing some pullups. I’m going to add weight so that my effective bodyweight stays the same even if I happen to cut some weight.
bw+10 5,5,4,3
I rode my bike to campus today against what must have been a 25 mph headwind. I literally got slowed to a near stop at the top of a couple hills when the wind gusted up.
I foresee Sheryl Crow becoming into me.
The deadlift seems to be moving alright if I consider that the last training week before the last meet I pulled singles with 405 for technique work and now I’m up to pulling singles just as easily with 485. So in that context I’m satisfied, but I know that in the future I need to pull more rep deadlifts.
close grip bench: 250×12? I don’t remember exactly what I did here, but it’s on my chart. I know I did 12 reps.
conventional deadlift: 315×1, 405×1, 455×1 485x5x1 (Used belt) high box, deadlift stance SSB box squat against light bands: 255x5x3 I did these like speed work and really tried to pause on the boxes. These absolutely killed the middle of my back and my hamstrings.
chins: bw+15 x 6,5,4,3
log press, push/jerk style: 205×6 My back was torched from the speed box or I could have probably smashed upwards of 10-12 here. Next time maybe.
less than super secret curl workout (too lazy to make it it’s own secret post like normal)
single arm olympic bar curls: 45×8,6 superset with
concentration curl braced on incline bench: 30×8,6
I did the superset for the left arm, then the right, so I actually did four supersets. These made my arms hurt lots and I did not enjoy it.
Random kickbacks, for the purpose of shennanigans.
The password for this installment of Super Secret Curl Workout for Big Guns! is:
Who is Conor’s favorite powerlifter, a self described 550lb dinosaur?
Please note, lower case with spaces.
Maybe I’m just a narccissist, because my pressing and upper body development really seem to be moving along, while my squat is moving, but not as fast and we’ve yet to see about my deadlift.
Tuesday I was feeling too under the weather t do much of anything. I think I worked up to two or three singles with 415.
Today, I did ten singles with 305 in the bench and repped out the last one, getting 6 reps.
Then I worked up to a 405 4-board that should have been much easier than it was. Then:
log press: 185×6
1+1/2 rep bench press: 225×7,8 This is a normal rep plus a half rep for one rep. Confused? Good.
pullup: BW+15x2x6
front squat: 225xdump, 225×1, 275×1, 300×5 These were very, very ugly but I got them so I’m counting them.
snatch grip deadlift: 295×12
random face pull from an incline bench
Then I moved on to the Super Secret Curl Workout for Big Guns!
competition grip bench press: 290x14x1, 290×9 This is a large improvement over my previous best of 275×7 and while fatigued no less. I only did 15 singles instead of 25 because I don’t think I need it, simple as that.
pullups: bw(260)+10x2x5
log press: 180x2x5
front squat: 290×5
I skipped GHR’s and snatch grip deads because I know I’m on an altered schedule and I want to make sure I can pull tomorrow. Training back to back kind of sucks.
incline dumbbell press: 50×30 I did these on some weird non-adjustable incline bench we have. I just wanted to get some blood in my pecs.
x-rows with bands: 40 reps
In order to view the new Super Secret Curl Workout for Big Guns! program, guaranteed to give you elephantine upper arms, you need to answer a riddle. If you know me, this will be easy.
Kyle and I waddled into a supplement store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We requested from the purveyor pills to make us jacked and yoked, but not what?
There will be a new riddle for the next SSCWBG! workout, so stay tuned!
close grip bench: 225×1, 275×5,12 I think 275×12 is my best rep performance on the close grip.
pushups: 55 in one minute. Not bad for a fat guy. (bodyweight = 262)
free squat: 315×1, 365×1, 405x15x1 I didn’t do 25 sets because I wasn’t feeling it.
snatch grip dead: 340×8
log press: 180×7 Not bad for me for a strict press.
pullup: bw+10×7
GHR, back elevated 30″ or so (tall side of large box): bwx4,3 These were super tough and kind of dangerous. I had the guys sit on the back so it didn’t flop over and kill me.
Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, but somewhat disheartening, if I’d let it be. Which I don’t, because I dominate, but I digress.
I did a couple random reps on the bench press, decided I didn’t want to bench alone and did some log press, 8 reps with 170 or so.
Moving on to the deadlift, I didn’t feel very good and it showed, as I worked up to 455 without a belt and 505 for one shitty feeling single with my gut wrapped in cowhide.
This wasn’t the feeling I had a couple weeks ago when I skipped deadlift day wholesale. That day it felt like I couldn’t get into position and my entire back from armpits to hip bones was sore and stiff when I pulled the slack out to start my pull.
This time my lower back just didn’t feel “right”. I’m pretty sure the cause of this is my sleeping in to late. I’m a firm believer in not loading the lower back until you’ve had some time for your intervertebral disk spacing to return to normal after sleeping. I don’t know exactly how long this takes, and it’s probably dependent on several things, but they amount of time I took wasn’t enough. Combine this with the fact that the only good lifting gym on campus closes at 6pm on Saturday and you’ve got a recipe for mediocre pulling on weekends at ISU.
Going back to the week I skipped, I almost think it would be better to just plan on skipping every other week of pulling. If I do that I’m probably going to switch to narrow conventional deadlift stance high box safety box safety bar box squat (DSHBSSBBS). On the other hand, on normal training weeks I get in a lot more volume, but I don’t hit PR’s in bot hthe squat and bench. Come to think of it I also did some foam rolling on my lower back while I was benching, which I never do, so maybe that was a confounding factor. Whatever, I’m definitely pulling next weekend, we;ll just have to wait and see what happens the week after.
DSHBSSBBS: worked up to 260 for 8 sets of three as fast as I could. I tried to take a long pause on the box and keep my weight planted on my heels even on the box, which is hard when your feet are 6 inches apart. I also used a one minute rest period, which is rough.
pullups: bw (260) x 4, bw+12.5 x 6,6
incline dumbbell shrug: 85x2x10
Conor Attack! 