Lol's New HST Log

Sunday 31/07/16, evening session

LBBS - max effort (kg)
60/10, 80/3, 100/1, 120/1
140/1
150/1
160/1 - current PR
165/1 - current PR

Deadlift - max effort (kg)
140/5 - O-shoes; hook grip
160/1 - O-shoes; rev grip
185/1 - socks; rev grip - current PR

Accessory work
SLDL (kg)
110/10
130/10

Face pulls - 20 reps
(Bar on low rack; me lying underneath and pulling myself up to it so forehead touches bar; rigid body)

Notes
160 squat was hard but went up smoothly, so I figured I'd try 165. Not my best form but ok for a current max. Good sign that I'm doing something right. Only 10kg off my target now.

185 dead wasn't so great but it was soon after squats. Will hope to get 190 next week.

For openers, I'm thinking...
Squat: 155
Bench: 105
Deadlift: 180

I haven't taken creatine for several years. I'm thinking I probably should get some and start taking it now. I recall responding quite well in the past. Any thoughts?

Creatine = meh-ish.

Maybe strength gains, but mass comes with, re: weight class.
 
Tuesday 02/08/16

Bench - max effort (kg)
W-U: 60/10, 80/3, 100/1
112.5/1 - current PR
110/1, 2
100/4

In O-shoes, belt and wrist wraps.

Parallel-grip Chins
B/W X 12

Notes
Max increased by 2.5kg over last week. Also got a double with last week's max.
Intended to do 100 for 5 to finish up but 4 was about RPE 9 so decided to save the CNS for tomorrow's volume session.
 
Wednesday 03/08/16

Bench - volume (kg)
W-U: 60/10, 80/3

95/5,5,5,3,3,3,2 - 26 total reps

60/10 - to get some blood pumping

In O-shoes, belt and wrist wraps.

Ring Pull-ups
5 X 5 X B/W

Notes
Strangest thing: chest felt pretty good before warmups but, as soon as I did my first warm-up set, both pecs seemed to get a rapid case of DOMS! Each subsequent set added to the soreness and tightness. After the first three worksets @95, I decided to drop to triples to get to my required total. Had to use a massage ball to smash both upper-pecs between sets to loosen them up a bit. Helped enough to get through the reps. Right pec got sore enough to be off-putting and slightly unnerving. I really didn't want a muscle pull. Anyway, I got through the reps and then I did a light pump set to flush the area.
4 hours after working out and both pecs are still sore but no worse than they were at the time, which is a relief. I guess DOMS was on its way after yesterday's max session and I just triggered its onset when I started today's session. Don't recall this ever happening in the past. Odd.
 
Thursday 04/08/16

Chest DOMS after yesterday bad but not hellish.

DL (kg)

W-U: 60/5, 90/5, 110/5, 130/5

150/3 - belted from here on
160/1,1,1,1,1
170/0 !!
All in flat shoes and reverse grip

Train wreck. Lower back fatigue jumped up and bit me. It hasn't recovered from last Sunday's DL session. Too many warmups probably didn't help either. I thought they would get the blood flowing and free my low back up. They did not.
Had intended to do 3 X 5 X 150 but only made a triple with 150 before my lower back gave up. So, thought I would try singles instead. Moved up to 160 but they felt like 185 did last session. Once bar was at knee level, locking out felt really easy.
150 is ~81% of my current 1RM which I think should have been ok for 3 sets of 5 across if my lower-back hadn't felt so weak when breaking the bar off the floor each time.
I need this l-b fatigue to dissipate or it will interfere with my squats too much.
So, what to do? Volume deads (3x5 or 5x3) once-a-week at ~RPE8? Or work up to a max single a couple of times a week, keeping volume low?
Any thoughts?
 
Current programming = ?

Bench three days in a row will mean fatigued lower back.
 
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Current program is not ideal. I have cut out O-lifts as I can't do them and prep for the meet. I'm trying to stick as close to this as I can but it's not always possible. I can only bench and chin on Mondays and Tuesdays hence my back-to-back sessions. Floor press (when I have no access to rack and bench) should be on Fridays to allow for a couple of days recovery after Tuesday's benching. Sometimes I have to change things around depending on time available and how I feel.

Mon eve
Bench ME - warmup then singles up to day max
Parallel-grip Chins - 2-5 sets

Tues eve
Bench volume - 5 X 5
Ring pull-ups - 5 sets

Weds eve
Press - 5 X 3
Squats ME - Warmup then singles up to day max. Back off sets for some volume

Thurs eve
Day off or...
Sumo Deadlift - 5 X 5 ladder from ~70% - 90% 5RM

Fri eve
Floor press - 5 X 5
Rows - 5 X 5

Sat
Squats volume - 5 X 5
Press - 3-5 X 5

Sun
Deads - work up to max single then
3 X 3 x ~5RM
SLDL or RDL - 2 X 10
 
There are zero programmed recovery days as far as I can tell?
Which is probably why my lower back is struggling to keep up. I take a day off if I think it's needed, which I did on Friday this week. I also try to eat more on a day off. Always seems to help with the next day's training.
 
Saturday 6/08/16

AM.
Sumo-DL
60/5, 80/5, 110/5
130/5
140/5
150/5

PM.
LBBS
60/10, 80/3, 100/3
130/5,5,5 - belted
Last rep paused for final set.

Press
60/5
62.5/5,5

Notes
Short sumo-DL session in the morning as a bit of an experiment. For me, much easier on lower-back than conventional, but I find it way harder to break the bar off the floor for the first rep. Subsequent reps seem so much easier. I suspect this is due to my position being off at the start of the initial pull.

Squats felt good. Lower back wasn't an issue.
Tiny bit of progress in press.
 
Sunday 7/08/16
Evening

Sumo-DL (kg)
W-U: 60/5, 90/3, 110/1,1
130/1
140/1
150/1
155/1 - belted from here on
160/1
165/1
170/0,0
Some hook grip, some reverse grip

Switched to conventional DL
170/1
Very noticeably more lower-back stress doing this lift compared with sumo.

Back to Sumo-DL
150/10
Reverse grip

Press
60/9

Notes
Touch-and-go reps on the 10 X 150, although bar was properly set down between all reps. Just didn't release tension fully nor reset grip on the bar. Even so, I'm thinking that's more reps than I should be able to do based on my failed 170 attempts.

Pleased I managed 9 reps with 60 for presses. I've almost clawed my way back to where I was 3.5 years ago :) Still a merry mile away from Mick's pressing strength though. :-/
 
I think you might just be better designed for sumo, looking at those numbers.

And your form/technique has an issue if it's lower back that is the source of issues at these loads.
 
I think you might just be better designed for sumo, looking at those numbers.

And your form/technique has an issue if it's lower back that is the source of issues at these loads.
I'm fairly sure I could do more than 10 X 150 for conventional DL. But it would hammer my lower back much more. Using sumo, if hardly bothers my lower back at all.

Form/technique issue: I do not doubt it (see next post).
 
Tuesday 9/8/16

Morning session

Sumo DL (kg)
60/5, 90/3, 110/3, 130/1,1
150/1 - belted from here on
170/0,0
150/10
Flat shoes; mixed grip

Floor Press (kg)
60/15, 80/5
100/8,5,6,5

Pendlay Row (kg)
100/5,7,5,4 - straps from second set

Notes
On Sumo DL, failed 11th rep as allowed back to round a bit.
On locking out rep 7, got a weird crunching feeling close to left SC joint. Never had that happen before. It felt ugh but didn't hurt much at the time so I carried on. As the day went on, it became progressively more sore.
My left clavicle is the one I cracked a few years ago. It's now sore to the touch along the posterior edge at the top close to the SC joint. Shrugging left shoulder is unpleasant. Hopefully, it's superficial and will heal quickly. I just would like to understand what the heck I did? Possibly, I relaxed shoulders and allowed the bar to drop a bit at lock out.
 
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Wow, really hope that was just something little that will mend up quickly. I don't remember if I ever posted about this but I was actually trying to train to do a meet myself a few years back. I had tried for a new 1 RM on deadlift and failed, then got angry and lifted it anyway. I ended up messing up my lower back and couldn't do the meet. So be careful, I think we are all eager to see how you do in competition.
If your form on conventional is solid, might be better to focus on that until the meet?
 
@Totentanz: thanks for the info. That is definitely something I will be keeping in mind. Cheers.

I have to accept that as I'm getting older, I'm more likely to get little injuries, especially if I'm not careful. If I'm going to get an injury, it may as well be at the meet rather than beforehand.

I'm frustrated that sumo seems so much harder to break the bar off the floor but I love that my lower-back is so much happier after a sumo DL session than after a conventional DL session. In turn, that means I can push my LBBS harder.

So, I think I'll persevere with sumo for a little longer. I may be able to improve my set up and initial leg drive enough to match my current conventional lift. If I'm still miles away by the middle of September, I'll switch back to conventional for all DL training up to the meet.
 
Wednesday 10/08/16
Left shoulder update:
Left SC joint area very sore today. Did as many things as I could to get blood flowing around it.
I'm thinking that I may have had some adhesions following my clavicle fracture and subsequent healing that got wrenched a bit. My left hand is the one I supinate for mixed grip and I really haven't done much mixed grip work since hook grip became my grip-of-choice a few years back. Perhaps having an externally rotated humerus on that side is something to do with what caused the problem? Having hands closer together for a sumo lift means that, on the supinated-hand side, the triceps get pushed against the lats more, so there's more friction between arm and body on that side, and so the upper-arm gets pushed forward more.

I wanted to try LBBS today to see if it was going to aggravate healing or be ok...

LBBS (kg)
60/10, 80/5, 100/5, 110/3
130/5
135/5

Did enough reps to be happy that I can squat just fine while shoulder heals. Much happier about it now.
 
Strongly recommend you stick to sumo, and hook grip.

I would just blast the shit out sumo to get technique down pat before meet.

Further, 150kg for 10 corresponds to a 200kg max, so I wouldn't worry that much.

I would add in hip thrusters with shoulders on the bench too.

And lastly, don't max out deadlift every week. You're not there, yet.
 
@Jester: I haven't read much about sumo other than on Izzy's PLTW site. Would it make sense to work at deficit sumo deads to help with breaking the bar off the floor?
 
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