Mike's Log - The Road to Recovery

mikeynov said:
It's kind of settled at a low level of bothering me. I'll feel it a little during certain lifts and day to day, a sense of pain/instability/weakness, but nothing too scary. I figure it will either heal over time or it won't (in which case I'll probably require surgery), but either way, I'm not going to baby it forever. Don't get me wrong, I'm also not going to do anything overly risky/stupid, but I'm trying not to fixate on it too much, if that makes sense.
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Yep, makes perfect sense; exactly why I've stayed away from pretty much all barbell exercises except deadlifts. Oddly enough it looks like back squats were the primary culprit for me, due to the hideous lack of flexibility in my left shoulder.
 
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 2

Dumbbell Bench Press
100 x 5 - cable row warmup
120 x 5 - cable row warmup
120 (60s) x 5 - warmup
145 (72.5s) x 12,8

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 25 x 12,7

Pushups (close-ish grip, external rotation style)
Me x 35,15 (short-ish rest)

Cable Rows
140 x 12,8

DB External Rotation
8 x 20/side

EZ Bar Curls
80 x 12,4 (short-ish rest)

Notes:

So I had the clever idea of warming up for dumbbell bench press by doing cable rows, then jumping to actual dumbbell bench. This worked well.

The only thing that was super hard was the curls, which is probably close to a current, ~12 RM. Particularly in light of all the metabolic stuff beforehand (i.e. fresh I'm guessing I could do maybe ~90 for 12?). I will probably just keep the weight here for next week.
 
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I assume those were "strict" curls with no body english, if so, then that is some decent weight for 12 reps. Congrats.
 
Sci said:
I assume those were "strict" curls with no body english, if so, then that is some decent weight for 12 reps. Congrats.
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Almost impossible to avoid a little body english with (heavy) curls, imo. It's not really possible to avoid it - due to the weight being out in front of you and needing to actually balance, you have to reflexively lean back to make the lift work once it starts getting heavy enough.

Stated differently, a HIT jedi probably wouldn't have approved, but I think they're fine 8D
 
mikeynov said:
Almost impossible to avoid a little body english with (heavy) curls, imo. It's not really possible to avoid it - due to the weight being out in front of you and needing to actually balance, you have to reflexively lean back to make the lift work once it starts getting heavy enough.

Stated differently, a HIT jedi probably wouldn't have approved, but I think they're fine 8D
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That is still good. That is like what? Half your bodyweight in curls for 12 reps? Awesome.
 
Sci said:
That is still good. That is like what? Half your bodyweight in curls for 12 reps? Awesome.
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Sadly a little more (I think my weight is like 155-156).

I've been stronger in the past (e.g. curling 115 x 6 back in 2011), but the context is a little different with all the high reps, obviously.

I appreciate the compliment, good sir.
 
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Lower Body - Day 2, Week 2

High Bar Squat (Vibrams, no belt)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
115 x warmup
135 x warmup
155 x warmup
185 x 15

Deadlifts (straps, belt on work set)
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
260 x 10

Leg Press
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
3 plates + 35 lbs per side x 15

Leg Press Calf Raise
2 plates + 25 lbs per side x 15

Seated Calf Raise
55 x 15

Hip Abduction Machine
75 x 15

Notes:

I dropped to a single set of all the main exercises today. Could I have done a second set? Sure, but **** is getting tiring, and I'm thinking I'd rather save the energy for higher-end top sets of 15 next week.
 
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Upper Body - Day 1, Week 3

Dumbbell Bench
Me x 5 (chins warmup)
45s (90) x 5
75s (150) x 12

Chins
Me + 35 x 12

Pushups
Me x 40,10 (short-ish rest)

Cable Rows
140 x 12

Seated DB Curls
40s (80) x 11

DB External Rotation
10 x 10/side

Notes:

I performed this workout at home since I had a test today and didn't have a chance to train before it. The main thing which feels awkward, I think, are the dumbbell bench press, since the handles feel a little unsteady and the 25's I put on them probably make the "rebound" point just slightly higher.

Everything else went pretty much fine/as expected. I've been feeling run down the past couple of days, a little bit of a sore throat and something something going on in my lungs, so I'm hoping I won't get sick. Last spring I wound up with pneumonia for like a month, which was a fun time, so I'm definitely hoping to avoid that again.
 
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Lower Body - Day 1, Week 3

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
115 x warmup
135 x warmup
155 x warmup
185 x warmup
195 x 15 (belt)

Leg Press
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates per side x 15

Seated Calf Raises
60 x 15

Leg Press Calf Raise
2 plates + 35 lbs per side x 15

45 Degree Back Extensions (3rd notch)
Me + 25 x 15

Hip Abduction
80 x 15

Notes:

Tired. The squats were pretty brutal, and I realized quickly that avoiding a belt up until this point was a serious mistake. A belt makes you slightly bent over such that the groove of the movement itself is a little different vs. beltless. Bizarrely when I go unbelted for a while I lose the belt magic, whereas if I train belted I can usually still pull off beltless fine. In this case, my groove just felt off, and while I ground through 15 reps, it felt a little awkward.

Everything else, however, went just fine. I will probably try 200 x 15 in high bars on Sunday, as opposed to my original intention of 205 x 15.
 
That's a lot of warmup for each leg exercise. That's just the way you like it? I'd probably be done for the work set.
 
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 3

DB Bench
Me x 5 (chins warmup)
45s (90) x 5
65s (130) x 3
77s (~154) x 12

Chins
Me + 45 x 14 (all time relative PR)

Pushups (emphasis on squeezing glutes/abs throughout
Me x 30,10,10

Cable Rows
142.5 x 12

EZ Bar Curls
85 x 14

DB External Rotation
10 x 13/side

Notes:

I actually weighed my dumbbell setup at home, and with the clips it's actually 12 lbs (maybe just over) a piece on top of the weight I'm adding. This seems worth including since the calibrated dumbbells at the gym probably aren't set up like this. In this case, I dumbbell benched just about exactly my bodyweight for 12 reps, which seems reasonable.

Chins went weirdly well. Perhaps due to the cut of volume, I was able to rep out Me + 45 for more reps than I ever have. I think my previous, all-time record was 13 reps.

Pushups I tried emphasizing a better spinal position, I noticed on video my midsection has a tendency to sag later in the set. I'm probably still doing this, but by concentrating on tight abs/glutes the whole time I was able to make the movement noticeably harder, which is probably good.
 
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Lol said:
Heck, Mikey, that's pretty sick! Good job!
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Thank you, sir. I was actually surprised, particularly since I started this cycle detrained in chins, not having performed them consistently in a couple of months. At this point they're still completely pain/discomfort-free, too, and I'd obviously like to keep them that way.
 
Lower Body - Day 2, Week 3

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
135 x warmup
155 x warmup
185 x warmup
205 x 15

Deadlift
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
270 x 10 (belt, straps)

Leg Press
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates + 25 lbs per side x over-warmup
4 plates per side x 20

Seated Calf Raise
65 x 15

Notes:

Holy cats in a basket, this was a tough session. In playing with squats I managed to get a better groove, so went for glory with 205. This was pretty brutally hard.

It probably goes without saying, then, that deadlifts and leg press following that death march set of squats were not so easy. Deadlifts were actually fine except my grip, weirdly, felt weak, even with straps. Leg presses were pretty much the icing on the cake, a "breathing" style set of this and my legs were absolutely gone. Good times.

Video of some lifts from the past two days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbBAoUQTqv4
 
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Upper Body - Day 1, Week 4

DB Bench
65s (130) x 5
77.5s (155) x 8,6

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 45 x 8,6

Pushups (emphasis on maintaining tight core)
Me x 30,10,10,10

Seated DB Curls
40s (80) x 8,6

Cable Rows
147.5 x 8,6

DB External Rotations (Poliquin style)
10 x 18/side

Notes:

Day 1 of a new block, scaling up to 8 RM's for upper body and 10 RM's for lower body.
 
Lower Body - Day 1, Week 4

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
205 x 10,7 (belt)

Leg Press
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates + 5 lbs per side x 10,7

Leg Press Calf Raise
3 plates per side x 10,7

Ab machine
50 x 15
70 x 10 (after a short rest, holy ab burn)

45 Degree Back Extension (3rd notch)
Me + 35 x 15

Notes:

I wasn't totally energetic today, but all the lifts felt more or less fine. I decided to cut out a calf exercise (I want my calves to grow, but I'll just do so in the context of one, good exercise) and the hip abduction (not noticing it doing anything magical) and added loaded ab work. I don't think I've ever given loaded ab work a try in the long haul, so I'll experiment with it for this 3 week block.
 
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I've contemplated adding in hip abduction and adduction on the machine since we have such a maching at my gym... I thought that strengthening abductors and adductors was supposed to help squats and deadlifts. Are you not experiencing any difference in squats and deads?
 
nativetroutbum said:
I've contemplated adding in hip abduction and adduction on the machine since we have such a maching at my gym... I thought that strengthening abductors and adductors was supposed to help squats and deadlifts. Are you not experiencing any difference in squats and deads?
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No noticeable difference, honestly. They are probably worthwhile exercises, but I am getting pretty tired on lower body days, so I'm looking at sticking to a slightly smaller set of lifts. If I were to keep one of the two, it'd probably be the abduction machine.
 
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 4

Dumbbell Bench
120 x 5 (cable row warmup)
60s (120) x 5
80s (160) x 8,6

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 50 x 8,6

Pushups
Me x 33,12,13 (which come to think of it is only 58 total reps, not 60...oops)

Cable/Machine Rows
155 x 8 (something is wrong with the cable row station, a bizarre amount of friction or something. This machine had previously broken, so I am going to call an audible and use a different machine)
127.5 x 8 (chest-supported machine rows, the weight scaling is a little different but this actually feels better, I like chest support when rowing)

Straight Barbell Curl
85 x 8,6 (was curious how the olympic bar felt - a little awkward, but at least I know for sure how much it weighs)

Dumbbell External Rotations (Poliquin style)
12.5 x 12,8 per side

Notes:

Decent day. The only weirdness was in the cable rows, as soon as I started using it for my work sets I knew something was terribly wrong. Not something like I misjudged the weight, something like the weight must be slightly off the track or something, it felt like a bizarre amount of friction. Doing the machine rows afterwards was actually liberating, I think I prefer the movement as A) the chest support feels great and B) I think I actually feel it more in my midback, versus my lats, which is probably more the point of rows.
 
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