_tim's Log

Congrats on the divorce being finalized. Must be nice to finally have that behind you. I'm still waiting for mine to be all legal even though we've been apart almost three years now... I'm also glad to hear your kids are doing well with all this. Sometimes I think it is better for the children, especially if there was a lot of fighting during the marriage. Kids don't need to be witnessing that all the time.
 
TunnelRat said:
Sorry about that marriage thingy. Divorce is harder than it looks (and it looks pretty hard).

Kroc Rows: 70 x 25
Hook grip, not clustered.

Doesn't the hook grip kind of defeat the purpose of Kroc Rows? I thought building grip strength was a big part of why people do them...
Click to expand...

Thanks TR. On the hook grip for Krocs - I'm trying to develop that form of grip for deadlifting purposes. So - in a sense, I'm trying to mimic my grip there so that it transfers well for deads.

Tot - I completely agree on the kid aspect. It's equally as damaging when the parents have little more than a loose friendship between them and stay together. The fighting was one thing - but the everyday, non-fighting was anything but healthy too.
 
Fitting end to 2010

Pause Bench: 190 x 5; 215 x 3; 240 x 3
Felt extremely strong throughout.

Repetition Bench: 165, 155, 145, 135 x 10
No clustering.

Kroc Rows: 75 x 25
For TR - no hook grip. No clustering, either.

Pulldowns: 180 x 6; 200 x 2; 220 x almost
Lats happy.

Happy new year all!
 
Pause Squats: 200 x 5; 225 x 3; 250 x 3
All reps ATG and low bar.

Repetition Squats: 185, 175, 165, 155 x 10
The last 3 sets were done in socks - wanted to give it a go and kinda liked it. All these reps were also ATG, and I was much more deliberate with my form this time around. Though the reps weren't paused, rep speed was noticeably slower than normal repetition sets.

Bench Abs: 3 x 10(3) @ 175
The increased weight was a welcome change - big challenge. Found a new thing I really like - re-racking the bar with my legs still elevated. Shoots all kinds of stress up the core after the work sets. Very cool.
 
Pause Standing Press: 110 x 5; 125 x 3; 140 x 3
Not sure the 140 was a PR, but it was close to one at bare minimum. Huge improvement thus far, and I'm not even halfway through the year yet.

Repetition Standing Press: 95, 90, 85, 80 x 10
VERY short rest periods between sets. As such, the last set was clustered 7-3. Not unhappy with that - it literally was sub-minute rest between 10's.

Kroc Rows: 80 x 25
Done man style once again for TR. No more hook grip... THIS was a PR.

Pulldowns: 190 x 6; 205 x 3; 220 x 2; 235 x 1; 250 x miss; 240 x 85%
Happy lats, happy bis.

Crazy week, but I got it in!
 
Thank you, TR, for pointing out the fact that I'm an idiot. I meant to say that I am not yet halfway through my yearlong experiment...

Pause Deads: 245 x 5; 275 x 3; 310 x 4
Socks/hook grip throughout. There is one thing about this that has quietly crept up this cycle - grip strength. Can't remember where my grip threshold was before - but it was certainly sub-300. Pretty happy. Stretched after every set, both warmup and work.

Repetition Deads: 225, 215, 205, 195 x 8
Touch and go, short rest periods.

Hanging Leg Raise (Knees to Chest): 4 x 12
Abs = cooked.

So ends this microcycle's heavies. Deloads next week only. Not stretching deloads past a week in duration, even if I don't hit each of the 4 core lifts in the process. So - including weekends, that's 9 days away from anything remotely heavy. Me thinks this is adequate; train must keep rollin'.
 
A wee complex to start the day...

3 x {
12 Spiderman Pushups
12 Air Squats
12 Pushup 2 Plank
12 Jump Lunges
12 Mountain Climbers

Rest 90 seconds, repeat.
}

Nice fat destruction effort to start the weekend.
 
Deloads begin...

Pause Bench: 150, 165, 175 x 5
Focused on being explosive with the bar.

Kroc Rows: 55 x 30
Still had maybe 15 reps in the tank. Did just enough to get the blood going.

Actually took me longer to shower and get dressed than it did to work out. Yeah deloads!
 
Deloads continue...

Pause Squats: 160, 170, 180 x 5
Socks/ATG all reps, all sets. 2+ second pause between reps.

Bench Abs:
2 x 10(3) @ 185
Love the increase in weight - so much more stress on the core.
 
END - MC4, END OF DELOADS...

Pause Standing Press: 85, 95, 100 x 5

Pause Deads: 195, 210, 225 x 5

Kroc Rows: 60 x 30

Hanging Leg Raise (Alternate - Knees to Chest, Feet to Bar): 2 x 10

Been fighting a cold, so I rested yesterday. None of the above was anything special. Presses were crazy easy. Deads were in socks, with hook grip, and easy. Krocs were non-hook grip, and I stopped with more in the tank for both arms. Ab work was HARD.

So ends MC4. MC5 starts Monday with some notable changes to assistance work. No need to reset anything just just yet - happy about that. The experiment continues.
 
Start - MC5. Oh hell yeah

Pause Bench: 195, 210 x 5; 220 x 7
Spotter was in place, but assistance was not used - other than encouragement. Almost 100% positive the 220 set was a PR - I don't think I ever have done more than 5 reps for any load over 205.

Repetition Bench: 175, 165, 155 x 10
The 2nd and 3rd sets were clustered 7-2-1 and 6-2-2 respectively. Tris and pecs were cooked.

Kroc Rows: 75 x 25
Goal is to hit over 100 this microcycle. Starting off with just a slight dip from the last MC, and a continuation from deload week.

Dips: BW+45 x 5, BW x 4
The +45 set was slightly paused.

Happy - and nicely swollen.
 
Thanks guys - I'm very happy thus far with both the strength and size aspects of the experiment. I keep meaning to take a couple pics, but it keeps slipping my mind.

Pause Squats: 210, 225, 240 x 5
All reps in socks, ATG. I've found that without shoes I more naturally can get deeper into and ATG position - full hamstring/calf contact. Makes coming out of the hole something that takes a ridiculous amount of energy when keeping good form.

Repetition Squats: 195, 185, 175, 165, 155 x 10
Also in socks, and ATG. Showed my level of conditioning, which is pathetic. Doesn't help that I'm fighting a cold, but still.

Bench Abs: 2 x 10(3) @ 175
|
NG Chins: 9, 4
I was completely and totally spent after the supers. My back and biceps had almost no fatigue - but my energy was completely gone during and after these sets.

This brings me to an admission. My diet has been HORRIBLE - I've been working with a major caloric deficit all the time (starting around the beginning of MC2). As such, I'm taking the fun step of introducing some supplementation into the mix again (been supp free for about 8 months) with the hope that doing that will force me to get back into some better eating habits. I'm going to be adding creatine pre-workout and a stack of amino acid tabs and liver tabs through the day (at meals) and pre/post workout. I used to do the stack religiously - most notably when I started doing all of my triples cycles. The creatine seems like a good idea at this point in my life for a bit of an added kick in the gym. The stack keeps my fibers good n' fed through the day.

So - we'll see what happens.
 
First workout with new supplements in place...

Standing Press: 115, 120, 130 x 5
The 130 set was clustered 4-1. Definitely felt weakness in my triceps today.

Repetition Standing Press: 95, 90, 85 x 10
No clustering - but the sets were challenging.

Kroc Rows: 75 x 28
Bumping to 80 next workout.

Dips: BW+45 x 12, 7
Figured I'd reduce the load and see what I could do. Both sets were taken to failure - 1.

I'm still in the loading phase of my creatine use, so I don't expect any huge improvement - or noticeable improvement for that matter - until next week. The stack should make me less sore if memory serves.
 
Still fighting my cold/sinus thing. Not much energy at all.

Pause Deads: 255, 270 x 5; 290 x 6
Socks/hook, blah blah.

Repetition Deads: 235, 225, 215 x 8
I was sacked after just 3 sets. Didn't want to risk being dumb and get hurt, so I stopped there.

The creatine is starting to do its thing - I forgot that a bunch of years ago when I used the stuff I used to sweat like a hog in the gym. Today was the first time I started to see that again with such minimal work.
 
Deadlifts will make you grow big and strong -- much like eating your Wheaties.

But cold and sinus will drain your energy like a sponge.
 
Back from sick - again

Pause Bench: 210, 220 x 3; 235 x 5
Felt pretty good, considering I haven't lifted in over a week.

Repetition Bench: 195, 185 x 10; 175 x 7
Clusters! 10-1, 7-3, 5-2 respectively. My time away showed here - like crazy. No endurance for rep bench work...

Kroc Rows: 80 x 25
...but I had enough endurance for Krocs.

Good to be back.
 
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