TangoDown's Vanilla HST Run

Oh, you didn't mean safety pins.

Well, there's another problem. The type of squat rack my gym has fixed pins, meaning a bunch of pins lined up vertically, each a fixed distance from one-another. So it'd be impossible to do a rack pull without slamming into the pins above the ones the bar rests on.
 
I was referring to ANY pin, but you've answered the question.

I would consider deficits (conventional) very strongly.
 
I'd be willing to give them a try. Nothing good to stand on at my gym so I guess I could use 35s instead of 45s.

% RM and volume? These would be done before or after squat once a week.
 
I would do heavy singles, on your middle session. 85 or 90%, crank out 10-12 good singles. You want a deficit of about 2 inches but not more or else either the back will break or you're squatting and it won't move.
 
I'll see what I can do. 2 inches may not be feasible. Can't think of what to stand on. Maybe a 45lb plate...I'll have to measure.

Anyway...onward and upward.

5'8", 175lb (think I weigh more. All I had in me food-wise by the time I got to the gym were two bananas)

Bench (~4:30 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar x 3, 175lb x 2, 190lb x 2, 205lb x 1
Worksets: 220lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 1 (failed second rep) (Work Weight PR)

Sumo DL (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 225lb x 2, 275lb x 2, 320lb x 1
Worksets: 360lb x 3, x 3, x 3, x 2 (didn't go to failure, just didn't do last rep. Needed to get home soon) (Work Weight PR)

Paused Squat:
Blah blah wasn't into this because needed to get home...

Weighted Pullups (1 minute rest):
Warmup: BW x 3
Worksets: Belt + 45lb x 7, x 5
__________________________________________________

Decided to jump 5lb instead of microloading by 2.5lb on bench today. The third double, the bar came down over my nipples on the second rep which made the rep right at the cusp of failure. I'm certain that's why I think I didn't complete the 4th double. I'll stick with this weight and push out singles in my last clusters if I have to. Fairly confident I can get 5 doubles with this in a week or two.

Left shoulder feels a little twingy up on the AC joint. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. Hoping my joints can keep up this heavy weight for another few weeks.

Sumo DL felt extremely good today despite 5-6 hours of sleep last night. Very fast. Didn't do last rep because I realized I needed to get home soon to conquer a massive pile of homework I've left to the last minute.

...and that's why paused squats won't be mentioned...

Weighted pullups, just loaded up a 45lb and went for reps. Didn't really have a goal in mind. Probably could have done x 8, x 5, but was in a rush at this point. I haven't done pullups really consistently lately so I need to get back into it.
 
Woke up with some moderate pain in the shoulder. Full ROM and no noticeable swelling, but I'm icing it. Man I got beat up in the gym this week...crushed big toe, crushed middle finger, crick in the neck, and now the shoulder.

Anyway, here's hoping it's just some tendonitis.
 
Shoulder is still feeling kind of crunchy. Pain has lessened some and I think I still have full ROM, but I'm worried. I'll take it day to day and see how benching the bar feels on Friday.

It's funny too because I finally got scapular retraction down pat which is known to protect the shoulders. Then this happens.
 
5'8", 175lb (gonna have to up the calories to 4000/daily...fuck)

Bench:
Bar x 5, 135lb x 3

Sumo DL (5 minute rest):
Warmup: 135lb x 3, 225lb x 2, 275lb x 1, 315lb x 1, 340lb x 1
Worksets: 375lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2, x 1 (Work Weight PR)

T-Bar Rows (~1-2 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar + 45lb x 2, Bar + 90lb x 2, Bar + 135lb x 2
Worksets: Bar + 155lb x 7, x 5, x 3 (Work Weight PR)
__________________________________________

Bench, bar felt fine on the shoulder, and 135lb, though no loss in strength, made the shoulder flair up a little bit. So no benching for me. Gonna keep icing and see how it feels on Sunday or Monday, and if it's not good to go, I'll probably just take off benching until next Thursday-Friday, which would be 9-10 days since my last heavy session. Pissed off because bench progress was exploding since I improved my form, but since I'm still 175lb, I can probably extend out my bulk a few weeks into January. I could probably hit my goal of 215lb x 5 at my current strength level but I'd love 220lb x 5 because it could very well put me on track for a ~300lb bench by Jan '16 if everything goes swimmingly.

Sumo deadlift felt amazingly easy today. I admit there was about 7-10 seconds between reps but only because my stomach felt a little sour with the belt pressing into it and I didn't want a repeat performance of projectile vomit from 2 weeks ago. Didn't do the last rep for that reason. But things are feeling real fast so I might just pump up to 385lb next doubles session. Sky's the limit here. End of the year goal is 430lb but we'll see if I can't smash that.

T-Bar rows, it seems neural coding is kicking in because today felt very easy. I might have to drop pullups for the time being while my shoulder heals so I'm glad these are feeling good. I'll keep pushing the weight until I reach a true 5RM or so and see where I'm at. Should be pushing 4 plates on this by Spring hopefully.
 
5'8", 175lb

Bench:
Warmup: Bar x 5, 135lb x 3, 175lb x 2, 190lb x 1, 200lb x 1
Worksets: 215lb x 3, 205lb x 3, 195lb x 4

Sumo DL:
135lb x 3, 225lb x 2, 315lb x 1, 365lb x 1, 385lb x 1, 405lb x 1, 430lb x 0 (fell forward), 430lb x 1 (PR + 15lb)

T-Bar Rows, testing for RM:
Bar + 45lb x 3, Bar + 90lb x 3, Bar + 135lb x 3, Bar + 165lb x 5
__________________________________________________

Bench, first couple of warmup sets flared the shoulder up just a tiny bit, but once I was at 190lb the pain was gone. Didn't really know what the game plan was so I just pyramided down today while getting 10 reps. Felt like I had 215lb x 4 in me and the whole bench session was done with not the greatest form in the world. So I'm almost at my year-end goal. Maybe once I start back at doing clusters with 90%, since I skipped last session, I'll get there.

Sumo DL, I decided to go for a PR. First attempt at 430, I fell forward because I let the bar get a bit away from me. 6 minutes later, I tried again. I don't know if the lock out was competition legal, but this ain't a competition and this was my second attempt at the weight so I'll count it.

T-Bar rows, I decided to just push up a bit and see how many reps I could get before form breakdown. I have a video of it but it was at a terrible angle. There's a little but of body English but I'll consider this my 5RM for now because my back was obviously fatigued from the multiple 1RM attempts. Looking at the video, torso angle was pretty much where I wanted it (> 35 degrees from the ground). I like these a lot. Will be doing these in the mean time until shoulder is completely better and I can work into pullups again every other session.
 
Considering the torso angle and the fact that these rest on the ground b/w reps, I think I'll call 'em T-bar Pendlays from now on.

Lower back feels trashed since I went heavy 3 sessions in a row. I think I'm gonna lay off on deadlifting tomorrow and come back to it on Thurs or Friday.
 
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5'8", 175lb

Bench (~4:30 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar x 3, 135lb x 3, 175lb x 2, 190lb x 2, 205lb x 1
Worksets: 220lb x 2, x 2, x 2, x 2 (Volume PR)

Sumo Deadlift (5 minute rest):
unmentionable, lower back felt fried, not happening today. Considering a deload.

T-Bar Pendlays (2 minute rest):
Warmup: Bar + 45lb x 3, Bar + 90lb x 3, Bar + 135lb x 3
Worksets: Bar + 165lb x 5, x 0, Bar + 135lb x 5
______________________________

Was rushed today. Winter break starts Friday afternoon.
 
@Jester, only got 215lb x 3 today for RM test. Don't know how I can hit 5x2 215lb (4 minutes rest) and 4x2 220lb (4:30 minutes rest) but only get 3 straight reps of 215lb. You think it's a matter of conditioning? I don't understand it...my rep max tests for bench are never grinders like I normally see what other people, but boom, fail on chest 4th rep. I specifically worked on getting the heels back and driving into the floor throughout the set to create a more stable base and scaps retracted as I thought that would help me stop failing 5RM tests prematurely. Maybe too much warmup? Bummed me out...seemed like the only time I was pushing into new 5RM territory often was when I was doing straight HST which I suppose was because I was working in the higher rep ranges.

Anyway, did 5 singles of 385lb (supposed new 90%) and then poop (previous 5x2 was 375lb). Think it was just me being demotivated after bench. Will repeat next week and hopefully with doubles.

By consolidating doubles into triples, do you mean with bench or with deadlift?

Then hit work weight PR of T-bar Pendlays Bar + 165lb 2x5 clustered, 2 minutes between clusters. Should hit 4 plates with these fairly soon. Maybe I should just go into rock climbing lol.
 
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Bench 210lb 3x3

I think I'm gonna add in a lighter day like this to increase work capacity. Form was particularly bad today because the gym floor was wet so my feet were slipping everywhere. This gym does everything in this power to injure me or prevent gainz. I swear...

Retested a suitable squat work weight. Gonna squat again.

Then did some T-Bar pendlays with 3 plates and a 35lb, 4, x 3, x 3? Had like 1 minute between sets. Filmed the first cluster and it was passable. Not a ton of ROM but I suppose it's okay.
 
Bench: 220lb x 2, x 2, x 1, x 1 (failed second rep)

Sumo DL: 365lb x 3, x 3, x 3, x 1

Squat: 245lb x 3, x 3, x 3

T-Bar Pendlays: terrible

Narrower Grip Bench: 180lb x 5, x 5
_____________________________

I've realized that the rungs on the bench are too high and the material of the bench is too slippery to effectively contract the scaps throughout with as wide of a grip a I'm taking. So what I'm gonna try to do is get 210lb x 5 next session, and hope to the spaghetti monster in the sky that I do, and then spend the rest of the time before my cut working on narrowing my grip and keeping the scaps retracted to see if it increased my power off the chest.

Sumo DL felt strong, squat, I'm still getting used to (again), and T-bar rows were not happening today. I feel a deload/SD is needed soon. Running into a wall.
 
Bench: warmup, then 220lb x 2, x 1. Garbage. Decided to then work on the narrower grip, so worked up to 205 and did 3x2. Felt pretty good. Able to get the scaps back more. I think I might do 2 heavy days and one medium day. 10 reps heavy, 15 reps medium. See if the narrower grip can propel me to a better bench.

Deadlift I couldn't really do because I forgot my chalk at home. Can't hold onto 315lb+ very long without chalk, especially because my grip is fairly narrow so it's not on the knarlings.

Squat: Warmup, then 225lb x 2, x 3, x 2, x 3. Fairly light today. Gonna do these unbelted, but keeping my Fridays light so I can squat 3 days a week.

T-Bar Pendlays Row: Warmup, then Bar + 170lb x 4, 155lb x 5, 140lb x 6
 
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