The Flywheel Effect.

[Raigs]

Man 325 looked like butter! Deads are definitely your strong area.

Oh man Pioneer makes great belts did you get a custom paint job on it?

[CW47]

Great work on the deadlift and max bench. Just a question, sorry if you already answered this, but why do you prefer sumo? I know you said you dont trust your lower back for conventional but you made that 325 look easy and right. Your chest may have come up a little faster than the hips, but overall that was a great looking pull!

Well, I prefer Conventional to be honest. There's something primal about just bending over and picking something up off the floor with brute strength. Sumo is okay, but much more technical.

I do prefer Sumo for programming purposes though, and it's for 2 main reasons. First is what you mentioned - having previously injured my lower back doing conventional, I'm really hesitant to go all out on it. At times, it even feels like my back may give out on the early warmup sets with 95/135 pounds. So I'm just not confident doing it.

Apart from that though, I changed to it (before ever injuring myself) because I recognized that some of the main muscles used in a Sumo Deadlift are weak points for me, and I needed to build up strength in those muscles if I wanted to get stronger at Deads, Squats, and a variety of other lifts. I've brought up these areas a lot, and as a result the gap between my sumo and conv has narrowed significantly, but relatively speaking the same muscles are still weak points, and doing Sumo is helping to build them up.

Man 325 looked like butter! Deads are definitely your strong area.

Oh man Pioneer makes great belts did you get a custom paint job on it?

Yeah, the Pioneer belts seemed to be rated really highly by nearly everyone that has used them. Plus they are cheaper than most of the belts out there, so it was a no brainer. I ordered an 'Untreated' belt, which means that it has no coloring at all. I'll for sure share some pics of it when I receive it. I'm excited to try it out.

[CW47]

December 8, 2020

Dynamic Lower: Box Squat - 20 inch Box
145 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps
Not done a 20 inch box squat before. This felt very light. Will have to take a decent jump up in weight next week.

Dynamic Lower: Sumo Deadlift - Banded
185 pounds + Light Band (65% of 1RM) - 10 sets x 2 reps
Felt good. Nice tight setup. Reps moved very smoothly.

Reverse Lunge
40 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Block Pull
205 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Started out with a light weight since I've never done these before. Should be able to do quite a bit more weight next week.

Pullup
Bodyweight x 6/5/5 reps

[Elucid99]

Damn thats quite the log, keep it up!

[Raigs]

Nice workout i always like to read that the weights were easy!! Cant wait for the next time i see these. Box squats are great for that explosiveness

[CW47]

Damn thats quite the log, keep it up!

Nice workout i always like to read that the weights were easy!! Cant wait for the next time i see these. Box squats are great for that explosiveness

Thanks guys. I like when the weights are easy too, lmao!


December 9, 2020

Dynamic Bench - DB Bench Press
40 pound DB's - 9 sets x 3 reps

Incline DB Press
40 pound DB's - 4 sets x 6 reps

Tricep Overhead Extension
Light Band - 4 sets x 10 reps

Band Row - Underhanded
Heavy Band - 4 sets x 6 reps

Front Plate Raise
25 Pounds - 4 sets x 6 reps

Situp
Bodyweight + 45 pounds - 4 sets x 10 reps

[Raigs]

Man I love the DB bench! How did todays session feel?

[CW47]

Man I love the DB bench! How did todays session feel?

It was a poorly planned workout. I somehow planned a band row twice this week, so I ended up doing yesterdays with a stronger band, different set/rep setup, and underhanded. I also didn't mean to schedule both flat and incline DB pressing for the same day (when I'm writing my programming, I kind of write the main lifts all at once, and then the supplemental and accessory lifts together separately. Usually then double check to make sure that the two make sense together, but I somehow failed to do so for this one.

That said, it was actually a really good workout, and I shouldn't be at all upset about the programming. The DB pressing felt fantastic, and it's something I'd like to do more often. It was refreshing to do a bunch of stuff that I haven't done in a long time.

[Raigs]

Sounds like the poorly planned workout hit well though. Some of my workouts on my program
Actually have all three bench movements in one set. Sometimes it’s good to have both tire out on one and then hit the other one and activate the muscles

[CW47]

Sounds like the poorly planned workout hit well though. Some of my workouts on my program
Actually have all three bench movements in one set. Sometimes it’s good to have both tire out on one and then hit the other one and activate the muscles

Wish I had done something different in place of the band row. The pressing was great though. The fact that one was a speed lift while the other was much closer to failure made them feel different enough. Good for me to know for future reference.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Not too bad. I like the combo of DB bench and incline DB bench. Although the fact that you did more reps on the incline even though the flat came first is great. That is a good indication you did the dynamic work properly.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Well, I prefer Conventional to be honest. There's something primal about just bending over and picking something up off the floor with brute strength. Sumo is okay, but much more technical.

I do prefer Sumo for programming purposes though, and it's for 2 main reasons. First is what you mentioned - having previously injured my lower back doing conventional, I'm really hesitant to go all out on it. At times, it even feels like my back may give out on the early warmup sets with 95/135 pounds. So I'm just not confident doing it.

Apart from that though, I changed to it (before ever injuring myself) because I recognized that some of the main muscles used in a Sumo Deadlift are weak points for me, and I needed to build up strength in those muscles if I wanted to get stronger at Deads, Squats, and a variety of other lifts. I've brought up these areas a lot, and as a result the gap between my sumo and conv has narrowed significantly, but relatively speaking the same muscles are still weak points, and doing Sumo is helping to build them up.

That makes a lot of sense, then. Good choice and good discipline in using a move you do not prefer in place of one you do to bring up weak points.

[CW47]

Not too bad. I like the combo of DB bench and incline DB bench. Although the fact that you did more reps on the incline even though the flat came first is great. That is a good indication you did the dynamic work properly.

Yeah, it went well enough that I'm going to do it again this week. I was just reviewing the remainder of this cycle and noticing that I have a ton of incline benching planned. My results from this cycle will tell me a lot about the value of incline benching in my programming.

That makes a lot of sense, then. Good choice and good discipline in using a move you do not prefer in place of one you do to bring up weak points.

I've come to the point where I feel like the main focus of my lifting is to do stuff I'm not that good at so I can then get better at it. The good thing is that I end up enjoying almost all exercises once I get some experiences with them. With the exception of planks and lunges/split squat - I think they will forever suck, lol.

[CW47]

December 14, 2020
Was out of town over the weekend and unable to lift. The partner and kids are staying with my parents through most of the week, so I should have some good, focused workouts.

My belt arrived, and I put it to use today. Seemed to make a really big difference on the max squats today. It's going to take me a few workouts to get used to it. Can't wait to see how it feels deadlifting.




Max Effort Lower: Box Squat
235 pounds x 1 rep
Was hoping to hit 225, since I've never completed any kind of squat with that weight before. The rep at 225 flew up freaking fast. Almost jumped up to 245, but decided to be conservative. Glad I did because the 235 was a challenge. You can see in the video below that I got a little off balance, with my weight shifting forward. I'll gladly take the 20 pound PR though.

Squat - Banded
115 pounds + 2 Mini Bands - 5 sets x 5 reps
Added 20 pounds from last week. Still getting used to squatting with bands. It's still messing with my balance. Having trouble getting lined up so that the bands aren't pulling me forward or backward. Also, I didn't notice until I just watched the uploaded video that's posted below that I didn't reach full depth. That was a balance issue as well. With the bands pulling me forward/backward, I felt like I was going to fall over at the bottom if the bands lost tension, so I wasn't going all the way down. Will need to keep working on this lift.

Romanian Deadlift
255 pounds - 8 sets x 3 reps

Pullthrough - Banded
Average Band - 4 sets x 6 reps

Helms Row
40 pound DB's - 4 sets x 6 reps


Video shows the Box Squat and one of the sets of banded squats.

[CW47]

December 15, 2020

Max Bench: Incline Press - 30 Degree
160 pounds x 1 rep
This is about as close to a 10 rpe as I can get I think, lol. Did not think the bar was going to go up once it stalled. Glad I kept on pushing. I was feeling pretty fatigued going into this, so I'm happy to have hit a 5 pound PR. It's also worth noting that the form on this lift was much better than my previous 155 PR - much better control.

Incline Press: 30 Degree - Close Grip
100 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
I mentioned last week that I wasn't liking the Fat Grip, so this week I changed it to a close grip. I think this is a much better option for me.

Kneeling Overhead Press
100 pounds - 7 sets x 3 reps

DB Tricep Overhead Extension
40 pounds (20 lb DB's) - 3 sets x 8 reps

Pendlay Row - Wide Grip
135 pounds - 7 sets x 3 reps
Just tried a wide grip (close to a snatch grip width) on a whim. It actually felt fantastic, forcing me do use upper back muscles to move the weight. Also seemed to put less stress on the lower back, though I have no idea why that would be. Will definitely be doing these more often.

Hanging Knee Raise
Bodyweight - 3 sets x 16 reps
Did these slow and controlled, and felt a good burn.


Today's video shows only the Max Incline Press attempt at 160 pounds.

[Raigs]

That belt is sexy. That’s going to be a game changer. And can’t beat a kid free week. Very lucky. Enjoy it all

[CW47]

That belt is sexy. That’s going to be a game changer. And can’t beat a kid free week. Very lucky. Enjoy it all

I am. The plan is to lift 4 days straight. I'll probably regret it, but gotta take advantage of the time alone. Family is back on Thursday.
And as much as I enjoy my free time, I miss them already. Feels really weird being home alone.

[Filmbuff81]

I always feel weird when the wife and kid are gone.

It’s like after 2 hours I’m like “ok so where’s the noise at?”

Nice job grinding for that PR. That takes some serious fortitude to hammer through that sticking point.

[CW47]

I always feel weird when the wife and kid are gone.

It’s like after 2 hours I’m like “ok so where’s the noise at?”

Nice job grinding for that PR. That takes some serious fortitude to hammer through that sticking point.

I was going to keep pushing until the bar started descending. I fully expected that to happen, and was surprised and super happy when it finally shot up. The grinders like this are somehow more rewarding than the easy PR's.
And yeah, the peace and quiet is nice for a few hours, but now I've run out of YouTube stuff to watch and I'm suddenly not appreciating it so much, lmao.

[JohnButz]

Subbed in Brother! This is an outstanding log you have going!

[Raigs]

I know sometimes I want a day alone then I get it and go and waste it by cleaning the whole place or something. I hope the 5th day is alone and you can just recover on the couch

[CW47]

Subbed in Brother! This is an outstanding log you have going!

Thanks man! Glad to have you.

I know sometimes I want a day alone then I get it and go and waste it by cleaning the whole place or something. I hope the 5th day is alone and you can just recover on the couch

No recovery days, lol. I'm missing them now, so it'll be really nice to have them back home.


December 16, 2020

Dynamic Lower: Box Squat - 20 inch Box
165 pounds - 10 sets x 2 reps
Increased by 20 pounds from last week, and this still felt super light. I wore a belt for most of the sets, just trying to get used to it. After completing all the reps, I did a few full squats without the box to get some experience doing that with the belt. It felt very different actually. My balance felt off at the bottom of the lift. Felt like I was really struggling to keep my weight back. Not sure why a belt would cause that. I may throw in a few light reps on each workout until I get comfortable with it.

Dynamic Lower: Sumo Deadlift - Banded
195 pounds + Light Band (70% of 1RM) - 4 sets x 2 reps
I did only half of the scheduled 8 sets. As I was reviewing my programming for the next couple of week I realized that if I'm going to fit in another max attempt on Deads before the end of the year, it's going to need to happen this weekend. So I did just a few sets to, once again, get some experience doing this lift with a belt. Unlike the squat, it felt pretty simple to do deads with it on.

[Raigs]

Nice that the weights on the box squat felt easy. On the belt some need some time to get broken in. So using them on warmups and such until its comfy is a good idea.

[JohnButz]

Nice lower body session! Looking froward to see your deadlift result.

[CW47]

Nice that the weights on the box squat felt easy. On the belt some need some time to get broken in. So using them on warmups and such until its comfy is a good idea.

Yeah, that's the hope. Wish I would've gotten it earlier so that I was comfortable using it for my end of year PR attempts, but oh well.

Nice lower body session! Looking froward to see your deadlift result.

Thank you sir! I'm looking forward to it as well, lol. After throwing out my back deadlifting 285 at the end of August, I thought it might be a year before I attempted a max lift. My back is feeling fantastic now though, so I'm ready to go all out. Should be fun.


December 17, 2020
Really solid workout today. This was the first time in a long time that I really just focused on getting through the workout quickly. One of the downsides of lifting at home is that it's easy to sit down at my computer between sets and lost track of time, or get pulled away to do something else. Got through this workout in less than an hour, which was really nice.

Dynamic Bench - DB Bench Press
90 Pounds (45 pound DB's) - 9 sets x 3 reps
This was on the borderline of being too heavy for speed work. I'm supposed to increase again next week, but I'll have to see how it feels and adjust if needed.

Incline DB Press
90 Pounds (45 pound DB's) - 5 sets x 5 reps
I'm digging the DB work after not doing much this year. Left elbow was feeling somewhat tender/sensitive. It may be because of the slightly larger ROM with the DB's. Not too concerned about it though since I have just one more week of these exercises before moving on to something different.

Banded Triceps Overhead Extension
Average Band - 4 sets x 6 reps
I was feeling the burn here. I was worried that low rep work wouldn't be the best, but it was actually quite good. I really like bands for triceps work.

Band Row
Strong Band - 5 sets x 5 reps
Unlike the Triceps, the lower reps on this wasn't very good. Had to use a strong band to get enough resistance for 5 reps to do anything, but I'm not really strong enough to do them correctly, so it was too easy at the start of the rep and too hard for me to fully contract. I'll have to stick to higher rep ranges on this exercise for a while.

Front Plate Raise
25 Pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
Felt much easier than last week with the same weight. Not surprising since this is basically the first time I've ever done this exercise. Should be able to increase weight next week.

Situp
Bodyweight + 60 pounds - 4 sets x 6 reps
Easy peasy.

[Filmbuff81]

Nice job.

Realistically if your speed work was feeling like borderline speed work you would benefit from keeping the weight the same.

Or work up to the higher weight for a set then drop it down to this weeks weight for the remainder for a little potentiation effect and see if the slightly light weight moves even quicker.

[JohnButz]

Nice work! It can be tough with the distractions of home. Do you know what programming you will do after this template?

[CW47]

Nice job.

Realistically if your speed work was feeling like borderline speed work you would benefit from keeping the weight the same.

Or work up to the higher weight for a set then drop it down to this weeks weight for the remainder for a little potentiation effect and see if the slightly light weight moves even quicker.

That's exactly the plan!

Nice work! It can be tough with the distractions of home. Do you know what programming you will do after this template?

I've been struggling for years to find programming that actually produces good results for me. Now that I've finally found something I'm going to squeeze every bit out of it that I can before moving on to something different. Realistically, I should be able to continue to make good progress with the same basic approach for many years to come. I'll just be making small adjustments as I gain experience, learning what works and what doesn't work for me.

Having said that, if other commitments infringe upon my workouts to the point that they're not yielding results, I'd look into something like Bulgarian Lite programming, which I could probably complete in less time.

[CW47]

December 19, 2020

Max Effort Lower: Sumo Deadlift
335 pounds x 1 rep
Did a PR rep at 325 before this that went up smoothly. This rep at 335 was a bit slower, but still pretty decent. Under different circumstances I would have attempted 345, but I need to be fresh for a max attempt squat next week and didn't want to go to complete failure and be wiped out. The belt definitely helped, especially with breaking the bar off the floor. Anyway, it was a 20 pound PR, which I'm obviously ecstatic about.

Squat
175 pounds x 3, 3
195 pounds x 2
Scrapped the banded squats I had planned in place of some normal back squats. I don't think I've done any normal back squats since my last max attempt (aside from some warmup reps), and needed to get some in to feel confident doing the movement. I think I'm going to need to start putting standard back squats in my programming more regularly to really get the movement grooved. It was pretty hit and miss today. Some good reps, some not very good. I'm blown away by how much a belt helps on squats. I did a set at 155 without the belt. Then I did a set at 175 with the belt and it felt easier than the 155. So weird...

I kept the reps low and just worked up to a moderate weight. I may try to fit in one more series of standard squats before my PR attempt next week. I believe I'm going to easily hit another PR on it based upon how the weight was feeling today. The reps at 195 weren't the cleanest reps by a long shot, but still went up pretty quick and easily. I'm thinking 235 is possible, maybe 245 if I'm having a good day. I'm definitely eager to see what I can do.

And for anyone that's new to the log, squats have always been a big challenge for me. At the end of my last 6 week cycle I hit a 10 pound PR with 215, so the 235 would give me a 30 pound increase over the last 3 months, and I think it's totally doable.

Left out the rest of my scheduled lifts for the day. My lower body is always much slower to recover than my upper body, so I took it very easy to assure that I'll be fresh for the upcoming squat PR attempt. The bench day tomorrow should feature a lot more volume.


Video shows the Sumo rep at 335 and the squat double at 195.

[JohnButz]

Outstanding deadlift PR Bro!