Deadlift and Military Monday, April 20

Sunday is my “normal” day to deadlift but by time I got done with errands I didn’t feel like it and in my defense I worked a 16 hour shift the day before and didn’t get off until 2am. No harm, no foul as I made it up on Monday.

block pull: 4 mats 225×1, 275×1, 3 mats 225×1, 275×1, 2 mats 225×1, 275×1, 1 mat 275×5,5,10 (+belt)

military press: 135×5,6 superset with

pullup: bw (a lot) x 5,7

band hip thrust: orange band x 15,18 superset with

reverse hyper: plate per side x 10, 2 plate per side x 20

side plank on lowest box (maybe 5 inches?) 30sec x 2 per side alternate with

isometric hip thrust: 30 seconds

front plank on lowest box: bw x 60sec

I don’t know why my military felt so bad and has been so weak lately. It never used to bother me but in the last few months it’s started to irritate my wrists (even with an open grip) and feel funky in my shoulders.

Deadlift 4/12 and Military 4/13

Deadlift, Sunday April 12, 2015

box pull, four mats under bar: 225×1, 275×1

box pull, three mats: 225×1, 275×1

box pull, 2 mats: 225×1, 275×5,5,10 (added belt)

This is down within two inches of the floor.

orange efs band hip thrust, feet on short box: bw x 20, 17

reverse hyper: one plate per side x 10, one plate + 25 x 10, 10

side plank on bench: 2 x 30 sec per side, alternating

ARSD: plate + 25 x 3 lengths left then right

skip step drag: 2 plates + 25, random amounts I don’t know how to describe these. Step forward with one foot then take a short stutter step and then repeat a long step with the original foot.

Monday, April 13, 2015

military press, yellow coded needle thread bar: 45×5, 95×2, 135×1, 155×5,5,6 These sucked. I haven’t been able to get my wrists in good position for these for a while now. I use the same open grip I’ve used for years.

log press: empty x 10, 10’s x 10, 10, 12

reverse hyper: 1 plate per side x 10

pull up: bw x 6, 6, 5, 5

side plank, on bench: 2 x bw x 39sec, L-R, alternating

front plank, on bench: 45 sec

ARSD: 2 half lengths per side, alternating x 45 + 25

lateral walk sled drag: one length per side x 45 + 25, one length per side x 2 plates + 25

skip step drags: 2 plates + 25 x 1 half length per side, 3 plates + 25 x 1 half length per side, one trip per side

Bench April 10, 2015

bench, ring between index and middle finger: 45×5, 95×2, 135×1, 185×1, 225×1, 275×5,5,6

These felt okay, but just okay. The only thing I don’t like about a competition bench is that I can’t get far enough underneath the bar to comfortably give myself lift-offs. For every other purpose a competition bench is awesome, and the bench position is great when your giving lift-offs it’s just not my cup of tea for doing it myself.

pushup: bw x 15,15,15 superset with

ring invert rows: bw x 15, 15, 10

reverse hyper: 2 plates x 10

ARSD: plate + 25 2 trips, altrernating sides on each length. I also wore my funny Rockport walking shoes for these which makes it feel different than when I wear my other minimalist shoes.

sled face pulls, rows and presses

 

Training Sunday, April 5

I got another “deadlift” workout in. I’m still basically doing a block pull and working my way down to the floor. On the plus side I had almost no back pain on these, just a little diffuse discomfort. I checked and I’m low enough now that I don’t need to mess around with the block and putting the mats under my feet. Now I can put three mats under each side of the bar and stand on the platform and be on the same height I pulled at this week. I’m hoping next week I can get one mat even closer to the floor. These felt super strong on the singles, it wasn’t until I started pulling reps that I can feel a little something in my back. I don’t think it’s bad form, since I’ve pulled hundreds if not thousands of rep deadlifts, I think I’m still building up strength/endurance in those muscles that are keeping my back stable.

Block pull, low box: 225×1 (no mats). 275 x 1 (no mats), 1 (1 mat), 1 (2 mats), 1 (3 mats), 1 (4 mats), 5,5 (4 mats), 8(4 mats, added a belt)

 

reverse hyper: 2 plates x 2 x 10 superset with

pullup: bw x 5,3

 

ARSD: plate + 2 1/2 + 25 x 1 trip per side

These sled drags were pretty tought today. I was feeling them down in my ankle/peroneal muscles. Between the way they make me feel in weird places (peroneals??) and the general improvement in my back since I started doing these, I think I’m on the right track.

Side note: I had a family thing for Easter and I worked late so I didn’t get out of bed very well so I was rushed for time. Otherwise there are a few other things I would have liked to have done.

Sled Drag March 31, 2015

My main effort was a bunch of sled dragging this session for about half an hour. That anti-rotation sled drag (ARSD) really seems to be doing something.

I did the ARSD, rows, facepulls, curls, tricep extensions and belt drags.

I’ve also been experimenting with doing a couple sets of reverse hypers, just for it’s purported restorative effect on the back. I only use a plate or two on the Rogue with the short strap my gym has.

Wacky Wednesday Workout

For whatever reason, I just wasn’t feeling it today. I didn’t think there was any reason to really put the peddle to the metal if everything wasn’t clicking. Like the aphorism says “Live to fight another day.”

On another note, I’m sick and tired of being one of the strongest guys in the gym. I wish I was stronger than I am now and still the weakest guy in the gym. I’m tired of guys acting like I’m some kind of bad ass because I have numbers on the North suburb of mediocre. Chase me, I’ll chase a guy stronger than me, and we’ll all get stronger. Complacency doesn’t do anything for anyone.

conventional deadlift: 225×3, 315×3, 405×1, 405×3, 455×1, 455×3, 475xnone My back still doesn’t feel right, like I’ve got plenty of horsepower and a shoddy transmission.

competition grip bench: 295×6 This is equal to my best effort at this rep range, and I did it with no warm-up, just to rile Phil up. Too bad he’s cool as a cucumber.

close grip bench: 315×2? Not my best effort at this grip.

dumbbell incline bench: 105×7 A slightly lower incline than I normally use, it was an ego boost for sure, but decent nonetheless.

GHR: 2×1, with s-l-o-w negative and then a [harder than usual] concentric

dumbbell shoulder press: 50×15, 60×8

tricep pressdown: 6×25, rest pause

concentration curl: 40×3,2,1,3,2,1,3,2,1,3,2,1 I think this is the same concept as what Pavel Tsatsouline calls “ladders”.

Stretches, especially the bi and tricep stretch yielded quite a pump.

I did some improvised reverse hypers by stacking up some boxes next to the wooden stall bars. Luckily, it looks like the club is going to buy an actual reverse hyper, so I’m psyched.

Chump Work

I did everything I hate tonight. Really, I was no better than the guys I make fun of for doing pussy workouts.  My stupid back held up fine until I tried to squat, and then I knew it was a no-go. So… I did leg extensions instead. I suppose I could have hoss’ed up and did some kind of unilateral work, but this is what I did.

behind the neck press 65x2x25 superset with

lat pulldown 7×25, 10×25 90 sec rest

So far so good…

backwards SSB narrow stance squat, heels elevated- oh shit, I couldn’t do these, so…

leg extension 6×25, 7×25 superset with

leg curl 8x2x25 90 sec rest

hammer curl 25x2x25 superset with

Safety Squat Bar Hise shrug 150x2x25

band x walks with two green bands, hip adductions

external rotations 20x3x10

Improvised reverse hypers off GHR – just to help out with this stupid back. I can’t wait till we get a reverse hyper.

Tonight really felt like a waste. Without the squats I just don’t feel like I did anything to justify being in the gym for so long, and I certainly don’t feel like I earned my postworkout drink.

I’m thinking I’ll try to do those squats tomorrow when Phil is in the gym and then do my stationary bike. If I can’t handle the squats, I’ll just do the bike and some mobility/stability drills.

Extra Workout and Shitty Moods

Did a little extra workout today. Just dicked around with some GHR’s, hanging knees and improvised reverse hypers. I tried to get one of our female club members to commit to powerlifting with us in the Spring, we’ll see how that goes.

I also used my improvised safety squat bar (manta ray + cambered bar) and did some upper back good mornings and just walking around with bands and stuff.

I’m in a shitty mood that sitting around drinking sake in my Goodwill suit-coat doesn’t seem to be helping. I haven’t felt this morose in a long time, must be my lack of EFA’s. I’m out of fish oil capsules so I’ll try to get some tomorrow and hopefully snap out of this.

Conventional Deadlift

Checked my progress on the conventional deadlift tonight. Worked up to 475×1 and missed 495 just off the floor. The last pulling I did was on October 22 when I pulled 425 for two singles. Before that I pulled 455 for a single on September 4 and August 27. It’s interesting that I took that single in August, took another heavy single the next week and then complained about my back in my log for about a month. I don’t think more pulling is necessarily the answer, I think I need smarter pulling. I haven’t pulled except for the occasional squat snatch and clean the entire month of November and I came back for what I think is a gym PR. Proof of the conjugate method, in my mind.

After this I was pissed and didn’t really accomplish anything. In retrospect, hitting a decent single is nothing to be pissed about.

Lat pulldown with big double triangles, 16,17,18×10

GHR with back elevated six inches bwx5,4,3 Used a 5 pound plate on the first rep of the last set, which is I think the first time I’ve ever used weight on the GHR.

Improvised reverse hyper with bands cinched to back support so as to pull my legs farther forward like in a real RH.

One arm cable row 70×8

GHR situps 15x3x4

I didn’t really enjoy training tonight, but I feel like it was necessary. I mean that I needed to test my deadlift to see where it was going, how it felt and what my form looked like. Without knowing these things, scheduling my future training would be impossible.

I am going to star pulling a few singles for speed against bands, probably on the same day as my normal lower body speed work. I’ll do these in addition to wide stance box squats. I’ll then shift the rep work that I’ve been intending on doing to after my heavy lower body day.

I need to continue to get my back stronger, much stronger. I should keep doing some kind of back extension, once for moderate reps and once for time. I think high bar narrow and medium stance work off a lowish box will also help my back strength. The sooner we get a safety squat bar, the happier I’ll be.