TangoDown's Vanilla HST Run

5'8", ~174lb

Squat (Low Bar):
135 x 5, 185lb x 3, 205lb x 2, 225lb x 1
260lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 1

Second double felt the fastest and that was the double where the bar was just in the right spot on my back. I could have gotten the last rep of set 5 but rep 1 was a grinder and there's no way to spot myself so I racked it. I'll probably increase weight 5lb next Sunday. These feel pretty good.

Bench:
Bar x 5, 135lb x 5, 155lb x 3, 175lb x 2, 195lb x 1
210lb x 2, x 2, x 1
Then fucked around with a few reps of close grip just to see how it felt, up to 185lb for a single.

I need to control the eccentric. I think that's partially what's leading me to stability issues and not getting 210lb x 5. Just gonna do singles and doubles and try my hardest to control eccentric more than I am and get up to 8-10 reps 3 times a week.. I realize that most of my bench PRs this year came from doing straight 15, 10, 5 HST. Something to keep in mind if things are still not going well by January but we'll see how this goes.

Pullups:
BW x 17

I probably had another 1-2 reps in me. Decent at this body weight, never working above 5 reps during training. Could probably get to 23-25 at this BW if I trained them for endurance, but that's not my objective.
 
I think your need more upper back work. Stability issues in deadlift and bench just screams "needs more traps" to me.
 
I don't think it's my traps, personally, but I could throw in some shrugs. Rowing is out of the question. DBs only go up to 100lb at my gym which is too light for DB rows for me and I'll get yelled at by management for Pendlays because of the noise.

Guess that leaves shrugs.
 
Shrugs aren't really going to help much for 3/4's of your trap mass.

Rack Pulls are a good place to start if you can stack the bar up on plates. Bit iffy if there's a plate shortage though. No lying supported rows? T-Bars?

Either that or start adding more load to the pullups.
 
I already train at around 4-5RM range for pullups. Any more load and I'll be pulling the gym's dilapidated ceiling down. :confused: Note that I train them the Marine Corps way, IE complete lock out at bottom -> tip of chin clears the bar and the rep is good to go. Provides for less ROM and probably less/little to no trap activation, but that's how I do 'em.

My back strength has always been the strong point. I can row 100 DBs at least 15-20 times w straps and can do a couple of reps of pendlays at 200lb+ so I don't think back strength is that much of an issue. Maybe trap size. Mid back/lats are probably a lot stronger than the traps are.

I can try barbell t-bar rows but I'd have to do it with just a barbell. Lying supported rows is an option. I see they're generally done on an incline bench with DBs.
 
5'8", 173

Bench:
Warmup: Bar x 5, 135lb x 3, 165lb x 3, 185lb x 2
Work sets: 210lb x 1, x 1, x 1, x 1, x 1, 195lb x 2, 205lb x 1

Sumo DL:
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 225lb x 3, 275lb x 2, 315lb x 1
Work sets: 350lb x 3, x 3, x 3, x 3

Supported DB Rows (laying on an incline bench):
Warmup: 45lb DB x 5, 65lb DB x 5,
Work sets: 85lb DB x 5, x 5

Pause Squats (pretty much ATG):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 185lb x 2, 205lb x 2
Work sets: 230lb x 2 (woops), x 3, x 3, x 3
_____________________________

Bench, tried to work on keeping legs driven into floor, which made some sets more stable than others. I was thrown off kilter on the last set since I was gonna try for 2 when the guy who filmed my 415lb pull came in and gave me the video. Note that I worked down 15lb (should have worked down 10lb), and did added reps. I suppose that's what I'll do from now on when weight is approaching failure. Either pyramid up or just drop 10lb and do added reps during the next set/cluster/whatever.

Sumo DL, last set was very hard but I got it. Tried to change up my setup a bit to more of a top-down approach but I don't think it makes that much of a differences. Only one rep I felt started rolling away from me. Rest came off the ground from where they were.

Supported DB Rows...I don't know how to feel about these. I had to use only 1 DB as opposed to 2 because it's pretty much impossible to pick both off the floor at the same time. Laying on the bench obviously makes these harder than a regular row but I feel like I'm going to reach a 100lb DB real soon which is going to mean I can't do these anymore. I might have to try out T-rows instead.

Pause squats felt good. Pretty sure I'm almost at ATG at the bottom of most reps.

Anyway, here's my 415lb pull from last week. Sort of ugly, but note that I don't think my shirt is ending on my lumbar, but on my ass, so I think there's less lumbar rounding than there actually appears to be. Not terrible...I think :confused:.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/4bijvs

Make sure to click the download button and not one of the fake spam ones...and turn your volume down.
 
Sumo Deadlift:
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 225lb x 3, 275lb x 2, 315lb x 1
Worksets: 370lb x 2, x 2, x..........................explosive vomit on the second rep.

NEVER, EVER eat a huge meal before deadlifting or squatting. Especially when you're using a lifting belt. First double, I vomited a little in my mouth...and I was like...w/e power through it. Third double, valsalva, pulled, BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH all over the floor and squat rack.

So that was it for today's workout. Bummed. Had some trouble breaking the weight off the floor today, which I think was a combination of not being able to get an effective valsalva and being overly cautious about form because of getting the stink eye from people in the weight room due to deadlift noise while they were lifting their 20lb dumbbells and doing their stupid shit. I fucking hate my gym's population. And after I vomited, nobody in the weight room even asked if I was okay. Completely ignored me.
 
5'8", 173lb-174lb

Pullups: BW x 15, 15-30 seconds I dunno, BW x 5

Just so I felt like I did something workouty today besides vomit all over myself lol.
 
5'8", ~174lb

Bench Press (3:30-4 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 175lb x 3, 195lb x 1
Worksets: 210lb x 1, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 1

Felt a lot stronger today. Guess it was a blessing that my projectile vomit during DLs last session gave my upper body some time to recover. I think I could have gotten 10 reps in 5 clusters. Really focused on driving legs into floor this time which helped with a smooth unracking and made things easier. I don't really commit to leg drive on the concentric - I just try to keep a stable base with the legs. But I definitely know my form is still far from perfect and I still have some more work to do.

Anyway, I can micro-load up .5kg or ~1kg. I own the .25kg magnetic weights and my gym has the ~.5kg magnetic weights.

Squat (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 185lb x 2, 235lb x 1
Worksets: 265lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2

These were grinders. I didn't do any mobility work last night so my hips felt kind of tight and as a result I couldn't sit back as much as I would have liked. The last double definitely turned into a Good Morning. Will either repeat next Sunday or throw on the ~1kg magnetic weights and see if the lack of mobility work was what made things grindy.

T-Bar Rows (New Exercise):
Trying to find rep max: Bar + 45lb x 3, Bar + 90lb x 3, Bar + 135lb x 5, Bar + 170lb x 3...felt too heavy to do multiple sets with
Bar + 150lb x 5, x 5, x 3 (Clustered @ 1 minute intervals)...this felt lighter than a 5RM for sure.

T-Bar is a new exercise so I just loaded up the 45lbs until it became hard. I did them dead-stop like a Pendlay but minimized momentum. My gym has no handle which means I had to do it holding on the bar. That decreased the ROM notably so I'm going to have to use 25lb or 35lb plates instead of 45lb plates.

Anyway, I like these, though I'd prefer a handle to keep things symmetrical. I could do them 1-handed, or I could switch off hand placement each cluster. But they felt pretty good and my lower back felt trashed afterwards.
 
Your 415lbs was perfectly fine. Probably had another 5kg in you I would think.

In terms of form, my one comment is that you need to lock out your legs before your back when pulling sumo.

I would visit Izzy Navarez' channel, Powerlifting To Win on YouTube and watch every sumo video he's made, then go through it again.



Re: T-Bar - just get them done. They don't need to be perfectly dead-stop necessarily. Use a close-grip attachment to create a handle if needed. Doing them one-handed, ala landmine rows is fine.
 
By dead stop, I meant, dead stop on floor, ala Pendlay.

I meant close-grip attachment when I said handle, though I just realized my gym might have 'em in the cardio room.
 
Slept terribly last night so I decided instead of forcing myself to sit through minutia on the digestive system for an hour and a half, I'd sleep an extra 4 hours and then go straight to the gym.

5'8", 175lb (+1lb)

Bench (3:30-4 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar x 5, 135lb x 3, 175lb x 2, 195lb x 1
Worksets: 212.5lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2 (Volume PR)

These felt good today. Focusing on driving heels into the floor hard throughout for stability is what makes the difference. I might even consider moving up to 215lb.

Sumo Deadlift (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 225lb x 3, 275lb x 2, 315lb x 1
Worksets: 355lb x 3, x 3, x 3, x 2

Only reason I didn't do the last rep was because I was gassed. Dat dare no cardio. Anyway, told myself to not be a pussy bitch and fucking pull this shit. As a result, reps were SUPER easy. Bar speed didn't feel any slower than 315lb. Should have filmed one of the sets to gauge spinal flexion as I don't want too much thoracic rounding on a weight far from my max, but overall, very happy. Felt like I could have locked out 450lb today. Anyway, we'll see how the doubles with 370lb feel next session.

Weighted Pullups (2 minute rest):
Warmup: BW x 5, Belt + 45lb x 3
Worksets: Belt + 55lb x 5, x 3, x 3

Haven't done these weighted in a week and really consistently in a couple of weeks. I could have probably gotten 3x5. I wanted to save some juice in the tank to test out work weight with T-Bar rows now that I have a handle to do them properly with. I'm thinking about lowering cluster weight in general and trying to eek out 15 reps as opposed to 10.

T-Bar Rows (??? minute rest):
Testing weight: Bar + 1 plate x 3, Bar + 2 plates x 3, Bar + 3 plates x 3, Bar + 3 plates and a quarter x 2 (far too heavy)
Bar + 3 plates x 5

I suppose I'll stick with 3 plates for now and see how things go (less weight than before but doing these with the handle which increases ROM). I won't be doing these on the same day as pullups regularly. Will probably cluster to 10-12 reps and keep these relatively heavy but we'll see. I was doing them dead-stop off the floor and tried to minimize body english. I also do these with a torso angle more horizontal to the floor than many probably because I feel it makes things harder. You see a lot of bros doing these at a 50+ degree angle to use more weight.
____________________________

This Chinese kid came into the weight room today. Looked about 5"11-6', less than 180lb. Very lean. Waits for me to finish deadlifting and then takes over the squat rack and, to my amazement, after his perfect form snatches with 135lb, loads up 315lb on the bar and does singles of ATG pause squat like nothing. He could have probably done them at 365lb. Then he proceeds to do paused ATG front squats with 225lb with about the same bar speed.

Considering that people in my gym don't even squat to parallel, I had to complement him. Far stronger than I. Didn't get to do my own pause squats today as a result, but shit, I'd give up the squat rack completely if I saw more people coming into my gym doing that shit.
 
Last edited:
You gotta hate Chinese weightlifters... even tall ones. I'm a bit surprised he didn't work up to front squat singles with 500lbs ;)
 
I suppose it makes sense. My Asian friend hit a double body weight squat in like 8 months of training and he's not even Chinese. Imagine if he was :eek:.
 
5'8", 175lb

Bench (3:30-4 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar x 5, 170lb x 2, 185lb x 2, 200lb x 1
Worksets: 215lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 1 (failed second rep), (working weight PR)

Sumo Deadlift (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 2, 225lb x 2, 275lb x 2, 315lb x 1
Worksets: 370lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2 (Volume PR)

T-Bar Rows (1 minute rest, from dead-stop):
Warmup: Bar + plate x 3, Bar + 2 plates x 3
Workset: Bar + 3 plates x 7, x 5, x 3
_____________________________

I think I failed the last rep of bench because the bar came down a bit lopsided. Something clicked on the 4th double though...I think I got my chest higher than the other reps due to greater scapular retraction because that double felt like I could have turned it into a triple or quad. Will keep working, but pretty happy with this. We'll see how far I can take it in the next month or so. Maybe the lifting gods will bestow me with 225lb x 4 or 5 before my cut...amen.

Sumo DL, due to what I believe to be an uneven floor, the bar lifts to not like to stay completely perpendicular to me between reps. Thus, I feel forward on a couple of reps and a couple more reps I didn't completely lock out. But I'm fairly confident that it wasn't an issue of strength. Ergo, as Jester commented, I need to work on getting my legs locked out before my hips so my quads aren't in the way when I finish the lift (especially since my grip width is more narrow now). I could probably get more onto my heels too. Still, I'm glad I pretty much fixed the problem of the bar drifting forward before it was coming off the ground.

T-Bar, I definitely can up the load, though my lower back felt fried after both deadlifts and t-bar rows. Got a little crick in my neck on the second cluster. I woke up with some neck pain today. Tends to happen every couple of months and goes away in a day or two. Not gonna worry about it.
 
Last edited:
Woke up with much worse neck pain than yesterday. Hoping it dissipates throughout the day. Definitely muscular pain as neck is stiff and the pain is located on the left side of my neck.

Icing and motrin should hopefully do the trick. Maybe rolling out the traps too.
 
5'8", 175lb

Bench (~4 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar x 5, 170lb x 2, 185lb x 2, 200lb x 1
Worksets: 215lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2 (Volume PR)

Squat (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 5, 185lb x 2, 215lb x 2, 240lb x 1
Workset: 270lb x 2, x 1

Rack Pulls (New Exercise):
135lb x 3, 225lb x 3, 315lb x 3, 365lb x 0, 315lb x 3, 340lb x 3
______________________________________

Bench, continuing to get stronger as I better my form. I can either try to get at least one triple next session with this weight or microload up 2.5lb. I definitely think I could have eeked out a triple or two this session and still kept doing doubles on subsequent clusters.

Squat...haven't squatted in a week. Think I'm going to back off and do these paused with less weight twice a week so I can really focus on keeping the weight on my heels. Give my spinal erectors a break too...

Rack pulls is a new thing. Did them off these stupid stackable platforms which made the bar shift around. Bar height as right at the very bottom of my knee caps. Anyway, since I'm not used to pulling conventionally, I couldn't get 365lb but 340lb was as fast as 225lb. As neural coordination kicks in I should hopefully be up in the 400lbs if I keep doing these. However, considering that I think my lower back is starting to fatigue, I might just stick with T-bar Rows or pullups on Sunday. It's already hard enough doing rack pulls without an actual rack.

Now because the squat rack area is so small, the platforms were right in front of the squat rack, so upon moving the bar off the platforms to start taking the plates off, I crushed my right hand up against the rack and the plates. Luckily, hand has full ROM...just a little stiff and hurts mainly on the middle finger around the knuckle. Pain is already starting to go away so I'll just ice it.

Also dropped a 45 on my toe. Luckily, had my shoes on. Took a beating today...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top