_tim's Log

[_tim]

Makes perfect sense, G11. I'll give it a go. Thank you so much for the info - much appreciated.

[_tim]

A Start...... Again

WU - 15:00 elliptical

Pause Squats: 185 x 3; 215 x 1; 245 x 1; 265 x 1; 275 x 1
All reps ATG and paused. I had more in the tank after the last set, but felt that form may be compromised so I chose not to force it. The load is a tad sobering, but given that this is the first WO in over a month of any substance, I'll take it.

Assistance:
Dips: 3 x 12 @ BW
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Leg Raise (Hang Knee to Chest): 3 x 12
Last set of dips was clustered 9-2-1. I didn't really rest between supersets - it was just walking between the equipment that provided the rest time.

With the holiday, looks like I will only get 2 in this week. I'm taking a hard look at this to see how I can possibly get into a better schedule - but that's gonna be tricky.

[_tim]

WU: 25:00 elliptical, intervals + CD

Deads:
WU: 135 x 10; 185 x 5; 225 x 3
Singles: 255; 275; 305
Step Down: 164 x 10
These were done without a belt, without straps (chalk only) and Vibrams. I still had probably 25-30 pounds left in me, but not enough stupidity. My back is essentially untrained and as such, pushing too far into the current upper range didn't exactly sound like a good idea. Still - being able to pull at least 305 without grip assistance is encouraging at this point. As a note - my stance that I've used for a while now is sort of a wide conventional if that makes sense; my hands are inside of my legs, but my knees are flush with my elbows at the start of the pull. The wider stance really helps with hip alignment for me; true conventionals never felt right and I could never pull straight. With the slight modification, my spine is straight at the start of the pull, and my hips don't strain to move in a straight line up in the eccentric part of the pull.

Leg Raise: 3 x 20
Last set was awful.

OK - so I think I figured out how I'm going to do this experiment after all. I'm going to do a modified version of the very first cycle that is on this log. One week, heavy singles for the 3 core lifts, and the other week volume-based assistance work. Sorta makes sense to me that I do it this way as it's only programmable as far as the weekly activity - I think this may work. So - that's what we're gonna do.

[_tim]

Chest WO

WU: 15:00 elliptical intervals + 2:00 CD

Decline Bench: 2 X 17, 1x 6 @ 155
The two long sets were done explosively. I was so cooked in my tri's for the 3rd set that I called it at 6. I won't progress loads until all sets are complete, and two of them are done without clustering. The second set was clustered 12-3-2.

Cable Cross: 3 x 17 @ 30
These were also done explosively - all reps. Haven't done a cable cross set in literally years. Felt pretty good, and broke up the tricep punishment a bit.

Strive BB Incline Press: 2 x 17 @ 70, 1 x 17 @ 90
The progression was followed in terms of having the weights in the different positions to put more oomph on different parts of the press. My anterior delts got hit pretty hard throughout, so I'm not sure if this lift is going to remain on the chest menu; I literally want to do one decline, one lateral and one incline movement for this assistance work.

I'm now very interested in what DOMS lie ahead. This could be a nasty recovery - if I remember right, after the first week of volume work I was a mess.

[_tim]

Lower Body WO
WU: 5:00 elliptical

Hack Squats: 3 x 17 @ 90
Felt extremely light - but I very honestly decided to take things easy today to ease into the volume. We'll see how the quads/knees heal up in the next couple days and decide how to progress.

SLDL: 3 x 12 135
These were not nearly as easy as the hacks were. The last set posed a challenge for better than half of the set, but no clustering was necessary. Forearms surprisingly got a nice pump and my thumbs got a bit of a taste of once again dealing with the mighty hook grip.

Ab Machine: 1 x 25 @ 145
Didn't like the thing at all - odd movement that didn't really hit the abs at all.

Swiss Ball Exchanges: 10, 5
KILLER. I forgot how intense these were! One rep was passing the ball from hands to feet and back - so really one rep was 2 movements. I like counting reps like that - really helps get volume up, especially for ab exercises.

With that, I ran out of time, but also sorta had done all that I wanted to for this first volume session with the lower body. I'm going to watch how my body responds very carefully - I'm all about extending endurance where it needs to be extended, but I don't want to incur a tremendous amount of hypertrophy.

[grunt11]

Nice to see you posting your log regularly which of course means you’re getting in more regular workouts, wish I could say the same.

Good luck with the Hack Squats. I’ve tried them before and couldn’t handle how the felt in my knees.

[_tim]

Thanks G11 - I must admit that you truly helped me refocus on an approach that I could get into. This is a true challenge from a schedule perspective, but I think I can get at least 3 WO's in a week. I hope to anyway - I'm sorta on a roll and am starting to feel pretty good. I forgot how much I loved doing this type of orientation (heavy week/volume week) but am very glad that I'm doing it again.

On the hacks - I've found that as long as my knees stay close to being directly over my feet at the lowest point of the descent, my knees don't suffer. If they travel too far forward of my feet, my knees die. It's a challenge to set up the machine right so that you have enough leverage and still accomplish that; with the one I used last night, my toes were actually off of the platform. There's one other hack machine that I'll try the next time I do 'em. In any case - no knee pain today.

[_tim]

7/12/2012:

Cardio/WU: 25:00 elliptical intervals

T-Bar Rows: 45, 55 x 17; 60 x 9
These were only the added loads - I have no idea how heavy the bar was. I think it was easily a 45-50 pound lever.

NGPD: 90, 97.5 x 17; 110 x 6
That volume was enough to cook my bi's; I had wanted to do one suppenated grip pull, but it wasn't in the cards. As in the past, I may have to do some accessory bicep work so as not to inhibit strength gains in my back.

Last night (7/16/2012):

No time for a WU so I went right into it.

Bench Press:
WU: 135 x 15; 175 x 5; 195 x 3
Singles: 215, 235, 255
The reps were not paused but were well controlled. I had spotter availability for the 255 press but didin't need assistance. I likely had another 5-10 pounds in me, but I opted for another round of WWRD......

Paused Bench Press: 10 x 3 @ 185
The last 2 sets were sorta interesting - but I got through 'em without clustering.

Machine Row (NG): 110 x 20, 11
After the back work last week, my lats and my posterior delts have been aching like no tomorrow, and stretching is only doing so much. So - I figured I'd throw some blood in the mix and see what happens.

[_tim]

Last night...

Hack Squats: 90, 120, 140 x 17
I switched up machines and had no issues with foot placement.

SLDL: 135, 155, 165 x 12
Last set was clustered 9-3.

Leg Raise (K2C): 4 x 15
Tank was empty - completely empty - after the last set.

As much as I'd love to say my gap in gym time was intentional, it wasn't. My schedule has been atrocious lately, but hopefully things are stabilizing for the week. For this workout, the first goal of progressing the loads through the high-rep sets is complete - but now I need to add a lift. I'll see what DOMS are present tomorrow and make the right adjustment. The one thing that continues to be mighty humbling is my endurance; it's understandable, but still very humbling.

[_tim]

Incline Bench: 135, 145 x 17, 155 x 5
Second set was clustered 11-3-3 and the third set was 3-2. I used a rest-pause approach and allowed only 5 breaths between clusters. This was a shock - I have never excelled at inclines and to hit 17 with 135 and no clustering was a great way to start the workout.

Machine Row (NG): 97.5, 110, 117.5 x 17
Third set was clustered 10-3-3-1. Same rest-pause approach as above.

Dips: BW x 17, 6, 1.5 (negative)
The second set was clustered 5-1; I had no idea my tri's were so shot at this point.

Pulldowns (SG): 110, 120 x 17; 130 x 5
Forearm/grip fatigue was the key culprit here. Second set was clustered 10-4-3.

DOMS from the lower body work on Monday were kind crazy yesterday. My hams in particular were very tight. Quads had some soreness, but weren't anything like the hams. More quad work is officially on the menu for the next round of low body, high-rep work.