_tim's Log

mickc1965 said:
@_tim,

Is there any particular reason you have started using sleeves (rather than wraps), the reason I ask is that I will be starting to use either sleeves or wraps but cannot decide on which yet, I like the sleeve option for convenience but think I may go for wraps as at the moment I am squatting daily up to 95% or more of current 1rm
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Hey Mick -

I have seen guys in the gym struggle mightily with wraps, and some of the bigger guys just use sleeves. I read up on both and went with convenience ultimately. I also consulted with eliteFTS (I use their wrist wraps) and the lady I talked to suggested the sleeves over wraps as I had never used knee support before and felt the sleeves would at minimum give me a good baseline for what it should feel like. Needless to say, I got the eliteFTS heavy duty sleeves.
 
_tim said:
Hey Mick -

I have seen guys in the gym struggle mightily with wraps, and some of the bigger guys just use sleeves. I read up on both and went with convenience ultimately. I also consulted with eliteFTS (I use their wrist wraps) and the lady I talked to suggested the sleeves over wraps as I had never used knee support before and felt the sleeves would at minimum give me a good baseline for what it should feel like. Needless to say, I got the eliteFTS heavy duty sleeves.
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@mickc1965
Wraps are very ill-advisable for long term use. They're competition (and comp prep) only equipment, and most experienced lifters say they will cause more damage than they prevent/benefits form lifting heavier with them will provide.

Sleeves, in my opinion, are psychological as much as anything but that doesn't mean they're ineffective. However, consider that they are legal in most 'raw' competitions, including IPF and IPF-affiliated meets, which want 'raw' to be as raw as possible other than a belt (which is generally regarded as having a safety benefit, albeit not quantifiable).
 
Thanks @Jester - that makes a ton of sense. Had no idea sleeves were still legal in the raw space.

11/17/2015

Bench: 3 x 3 @ 245

Incline Bench: 3 x 8 @ 155

Dips: BW x 6, 3

The last set of inclines was RP'd 7-1.
 
_tim said:
Thanks @Jester - that makes a ton of sense. Had no idea sleeves were still legal in the raw space.

11/17/2015

Bench: 3 x 3 @ 245

Incline Bench: 3 x 8 @ 155

Dips: BW x 6, 3

The last set of inclines was RP'd 7-1.
Click to expand...

Well they're legal because they don't add anything in terms of lifting capacity. They don't have a proven safety efficacy either. And one of the IPF's biggest sponsors, SBD, provides one of the only allowed makes of sleeves. So go figure ;)
 
Finally home, and the session showed.

Incline Bench:
3 x 8 @ 175
Last set was RP'd 6-2.

Dips: 10, 8, 4 x BW

Cable Fly: 2 x 10 @ 115

Cable Curls: 110, 130 x 10; 150 x 4

Bag Training/Battle Rope finish

Hoping to have at least a couple solid weeks ahead of the holiday.
 
Low Rest Work

Squats: 5 x 5 @ 225
Knee sleeves. Rest was limited to 90 seconds between work sets.

Cable Rows: 3 x 8 @ 145
Rest was limited to 60 seconds between sets.

Reverse Hyper: 2 x 10;
|
Battle Ropes: 2 x 10 second "sprint"
I was very out of breath by the end of the session.
 
2016...
Hi All -

Happy New Year! It's at this time almost every year that I take a look at training and figure out what's working and what's not. Given that I am going to be travelling every month this year for at least a week at a time, linear periodization is not working. So, I did some soul searching and came up with a novel idea - just lift, and be mindful of volume. I'll be very honest and say that this post gave me clarity on the approach. I'm going to shoot to lift 3 times a week and box twice. That's the goal. Lifting workouts will be muscle group-specific. Lifts will not always be the same; the goal is just to hit my fibers enough to do something. So - I'm going to run with this for at least the next quarter and see if it's working. The only good thing is that because it's highly adaptive training, it won't take much to tweak if problems arise.

Here is today's fun:

NG Chin: 8 x 3 @ BW

Cable Row: 6 x 6 @ 145

Roman Chair Extensions: 5 x 10 @ BW
|
WG Pulldowns: 5 x 10 @ 110

Cable 21's: 85

Today was "back day" and I committed the greatest sin ever by doing a set of curls. I had fun flying in the face of everything I have held dear, basically forever. This will either work, or it won't and I'll end up with a very upset CNS and probably hurt. Regardless, at least it's something repeatable and also inherently progressive without being linear. At least in theory, this could work.
 
Boxing 1/5/2016 - cardio tested and basically failed.

Today:
Bench: 8 x 3 @ 225

Incline Bench: 3 x 6 @ 155
|
Dips: BW x 5, 4, 5

Ran out of time today, but that was just fine. Triceps were cooked. The dip sets proved an interesting point; the first two sets were done with wide grip, the last with narrow grip. Major difference that I never realized before.
 
Squats: 6 x 6 @ 230
Used knee sleeves for the work sets. I think the load is correct; the bar was one of the 50's that the gym has.

SLDL: 135 x 10
This was assistance-based, but man was my posterior chain shot!

Seated Calf Raise: 90 x 15, 10
|
Cable Curls: 90 x 20; 110 x 15
Say what you will about both; I will fully admit that I love doing curls and the calf work satisfied a curiosity. Ah, the price one pays for honesty..... ;o)
 
Boxing + Core
Finally got a week in. Kinda have a full body DOMS thing going on. Upped the nutrition and supplements notably as a result.
 
1/11/2016:
Standing OHP: 4 x 6 @ 115
Last set was RP'd 5-1.

SA DB Lateral Raise: 3 x 10 @ 25

Cable Rear Delt Row: 3 x 10 @ 95

1/12/2015 (late)
BB Curl: 6 x 6 @ 85

Skullz: 6 x 6 @ 80

SA DB Curl: 25, 30, 35, 40 x 10; 45 x 3x

Rope PD: 90, 105, 110, 125 x 10; 130 x 7x

Cable 21's: 85, 110 x 21
|
Cable Tricep Extension (Palms Down): 85, 110 x 21; 150 x 10

I needed a fun session of ISO's tonight. Boxing will be tomorrow, and we'll assess Thursday when it arrives.
 
Finally

Been a wicked few weeks. There was travel and a horrid illness in the mix. Finally got one in today.

BW at the time of the workout was 224.

Pullups: BW x 5, 2

Chins: BW x 5, 2

NG Chins: 4, 2
I alternated the lifts by set. Focused on good form; stopped the work when form broke down.

Cable Row: 110, 125, 130, 145 x 10
Last set was RP'd 7-3.

Battle Ropes
|
Bag Training
|
Jumprope
10-counts for each. 10 seconds on the ropes and 10 combinations on the bag.

Felt good to be back, but it felt like the first one in a while. Hope you all are well!
 
Bench: 3 x 6 @ 205; 185 x 4
I felt really good in my warmup sets, but the work sets showed how much endurance I've lost.

Incline Bench: 135 x 10, 8
Second set was RP'd 6-2 with 3 breaths.

Dips: BW x 6, 4
Triceps are in need of serious work.

SA Cable "Decline" Extension: 2 x 10 @ 50
I watched this: on YouTube to explain the connection points on the bottom of the pec. I tried to mimic the motion he showed to hit that connection point - very interesting stretch and contraction.
 
Squats: 3 x 6, 1 x 4 @ 225
Knee sleeves were used starting with the work sets above.

Roman Chair Back Extension: 2 x 10 @ BW

Battle Ropes: 2 x ME
I basically did 2 sprints as long as I could, with varying movements. Showed exactly where my cardiovascular endurance sits presently.
 
Pullups: BW x 5, 5, 3, 3,3, 2, 2, 2
The goal here was 25 reps total. Grip width was altered with each set, but all grip positions were pronated. BW remains at 225.

SA DB Row: 65, 75, 80 x 8

Pulldown: 110, 130, 150 x 10
Close, supinated grip was used for these sets.

Cable Row: 125, 130 x 10
Second set was RP'd 6-3-1 with 3 breaths between sets.

NG ISO Chin: 90 degree hold x 1, X
I saw this on bb.com and figured I'd give it a go as a finishing exercise. I intended to do a full rep, but stuck at 90 degrees. My second set was a major fail; I had no pull left.
 
Very quick one today...

Incline Bench: 3 x 6 @ 165
My last set was RP'd 3-2-1 with 3 breath pauses. I kept rest to about a minute here.

DB Flat Bench: 50 x 12; 65 x 10, 6
|
SA Decline Cable Fly: 50 x 12; 65 x 10, 5
I was really low on time, so I did this superset, knowing that my endurance would be tested. The second set of 65 for DB bench was RP'd 5-1.

Not thrilled with the timing, but this was a good test. I did the above in about 35 minutes.
 
Deads: 6 x 6 @ 225
Raw; I focused on form throughout. Grip became a notable issue, unfortunately, and the last two sets were sort of RP'd with brief pauses to let my grip recover. Nice pulling again!

Hang K2C: 10
Yep - grip was done. I could barely hold on for the last reps of this set.

Rollout: 10, 10
|
Russian Twist: 10 x 20, 20

Crossing Mountain Climbers: 15, 10
|
Raised Crunches: 10 x 20, 10
These were crunches done with the medicine ball pressed overhead.

Good little ab circuit!

Since I got 4 solid workouts in, tomorrow will be some delicious arm ISO movements with despised conditioning activities.
 
Standing Preacher BB Curl: 6 x 6 @ 70
The 5th set ended up being RP'd 5-1. For that set, my grip was wide and that part of my bicep is particularly weak. Every set was changed up slightly in regard to hand position.

Skullz: 6 x 6 @ 55
My hands were wider for these sets than I would have liked due to the EZ bar I was using. Got an interesting pump out of them.

Alternating DB Curl: 30, 35, 40 x 10

Rope Triceps Extension: 50, 60, 60 x 10
The 70 set was RP'd 7-3. This was a different machine than I usually use and the cable had much more resistance.

Cable 21's: 105; 125
|
Triceps Extension (Flat Bar): 105; 125 x 21
My second set of 21's was incomplete. I got through the partials, but failed in the full reps 2 in. I know failure is a bad word here, but it was damn fun getting there.

Battle Ropes: 2 sprints
|
Boxing: 2 rounds
I took both to a place of cardiovascular discomfort. I was soaked at the end.

Well all, my workout week is complete, and I'm happy with the results. Have a great weekend!
 
Standing OHP: 6 x 6 @ 95
Given this is the first shoulder workout in months, I figured the light blue weights would be on display, and on display they were. Low rest throughout this workout; low time today due to a meeting that the guy never showed for. Yay!

DB Lateral Raise: 3 x 10 @ 25
Made sure form was clean throughout - "emptying the jars" as it were.

SA Cable Rear Deltoid Fly: 30, 35, 40 x 10
These felt way better than they have in the past.

Strive Chicken Wing Raise: 30, 35, 40 x 10
No idea what to call this movement. Regardless, I changed the load setting from 1-3 for each set. For those who are unfamiliar, the 1 is a balanced load, 2 is over-weighted on the front of the rep, and 3 is over-weighted on the end of the rep.

This is going to be a short workout week. Looks like 3 will be on the docket for the week based on the schedule.
 
Squats: 6 (or 7?) x 6 @ 245
Sleeves. Again - form was strict across all sets. I think I neglected to record a set, but I absolutely did 6 work sets. Could have been 7 if I truly forgot during my spotting duties elsewhere in the gym, which I think is possible.
 
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