In Search of Strength

[CharlesSwann]

06/19
Bench: 245x20
ATG beltless highbar squat: 365x3, 385x3, 405x3 [0.42-0.38m/s]

06/21
Chin ups: 60x8,7,6
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (17.5cm)x15s,8s,3s [28s best, 26s today]

[CharlesSwann]

06/22
Front squat: 365x3, 375x3,3 [0.52-0.42m/s]

Last set was fastest and strongest, still getting my sea-legs squatting... I've lost a lot of strength but hopefully it comes back fast.

Should do bench and rows tomorrow.

[CharlesSwann]

06/23
Bench: 225x10, 245x10, 265x14
Seal row: 215x8,7,10

[CharlesSwann]

06/26
ATG beltless highbar squat: 365x3, 405x5 [0.47-0.37m/s], 425x3
Bench: 225x10, 245x10, 265x10, 285x12

Somehow my speed tracker wigged out on 425, so I don't have that set's speed. One of the reps out of three was 0.41m/s (probably the last rep) but I'm not exactly sure what happened so I'm writing it off. Marked down the 405 for some reference point.

It felt good though! I'm getting stronger and faster every session. I'd say I'm almost done rehabbing.

Bench is strong too. I think 285x12 is a PR. Pec is still a bit iffy/crunchy though.

[Atom1980]

Bench is strong too. I think 285x12 is a PR.

Nice!

[CharlesSwann]

06/30
ATG beltless highbar squat: 365x3, 405x3 [0.39-0.38m/s]
Bench: 265x3 -- I was planning on 3x12 with 265 but shoulder felt unstable... did 225x10 and a bunch of reps with 135 after.

07/02
Front squat: 335x3, 355x3, 365x3 [0.55-0.47m/s]
Overhead press: 145x5, 165x5, 180x5, 190x5
Chin ups: 60x8,8,8

My squat strength is starting to come back quite a bit slower that I'd hoped right about now... might need to pull back and rest a bit more, so I'll try that now. I think I'll undulate a bit across hard/med/easy sessions using 0.45/0.50/0.55m/s as guidelines, lower reps for harder days and higher reps for easier... next session I'll do an easy high bar around Sunday, counting today as a hard FS.

Bench is strong too. I think 285x12 is a PR.

Nice!

Haha, thank you! It's nice to know that somehow in these endless rehab blocks I can actually somehow squeeze out some progress. Sometimes.

[CharlesSwann]

Decided to take a quick break for my hips/pec, and starting lower set difficulty for now.

07/07
ATG beltless highbar squat: 315x5, 335x5, 345x5 [0.59-0.56m/s], 135 for 3x10
Bench: 265 for 3x12

Next up is back and grip.

[CharlesSwann]

Go figure, backing off frequency feels good on my hip and pec. If I don't lift at all, though, it definitely doesn't get better. Gotta find the line to walk.

I'm setting a 0.55m/s minimum speed on my squats for a while. I think that's RPE 8ish, varying by day. Felt great hitting that kind of difficulty today. Kinda tough, but doesn't bother my hip, so I felt like I got decent work in without killing myself... going to roll with this a while. Moderate reps too.

Also going to start training some easier, higher rep block pulls. I have no idea where my strength is at for these, I just want to get a decent set of 10 in and progress it over time.

07/12
Front squat: 315x5, 335x5, 345x5 [0.60-0.54m/s]
Beltless conventional block pulls: 405x10
Bench: 270 for 3x12

[CharlesSwann]

07/14
Dumbbell row: 195x8, 205x8, 230x5
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (17.5cm)x11s,6s,6s [28s best, 23s today]

[CharlesSwann]

07/15
Beltless highbar: 315x5, 335x5, 355x5, 365x5 [0.64-0.59m/s]
Overhead press: 165x5, 175x5, 185x5, 200x4

Highbar was a great speed compared to the last few sessions. Probably had at least 10-20lbs more in me against the 0.55m/s goal, but I didn't want to push it. 355 and 365 were both new cycle bests against 0.55m/s.

[CharlesSwann]

Got a vaccine on Friday, felt pretty bad Saturday and decided to wait one more day on Sunday. Hopefully OK today.

07/19
Front squat: 315x5, 335x5 [0.60-0.54m/s]
Bench: 275 for 3x12
Beltless conventional block pulls: 415x10

Squats and hips still stagnating below peak strength... I'm a bit lost so I'll just keep on trying to get decent work. Basically I'll pretend my max is permanently ~10% lower and hopefully retrain back up reasonably quickly.

Bench is good though! 3x12 with 275 is definitely a strong set for me. I would imagine I can sneak up a 385+ max this year if things keep up decently.

[CharlesSwann]

07/20
Chin ups: 65x7,6,5

07/22
Beltless highbar: 315x5, 345x5, 365x5, 385x5 [0.58-0.51m/s]
Overhead press: 160x5, 170x5, 185x5, 195x5

Another day with some speed PRs, but last set was slower than it should've been. I did one more single at 385 and got a top speed of 0.66m/s (compared to 0.58 from the set of 5), which gets me an all-time e1RM PR.

One thing I noticed is that my high bar seems to be going well and front squat badly, plus my hip feels worse during/after front squats, so I think I need to focus on high bar a bit, and do some kind of variation to support front squat (maybe partial ROM, to bench, like before, will be fine?).

[CharlesSwann]

07/26
Paused front squat to box: 455x3, 475x1

Not sure if these are great either. Seems that the hip angle from the upright back is somehow kinda rough. I'll see how I feel tomorrow and maybe try a few more sessions before deciding.

[CharlesSwann]

Hip feeling rough today, squats did not go well. Exploring alternate quad exercises because training hamstrings/posterior chain is super easy for me but quads seem impossible.

07/28
Beltless highbar: 315x5, 365x5 -- bleh
Around here I tried low bar and low bar to box and a bunch of other stuff, went badly...
Took a couple hours' break after, then:
Band supported kneeling sissy squat: (4 hands)x5, (3 hands)x5, (2 hands)x4, (3 hands)x5,x8, (1 hand)x3 + some singles to feel it out

I like the sissy squats I think. I really want to train my quads for front squats and to balance out what I'm missing while injured. Didn't seem to hurt my hips (or bother my knees like some) so I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Well, I would get a twinge from certain angles. It feels like the move doesn't inherently bother my hip but there's some angle where just being in that position twinges it a bit. We'll see if I can be careful enough about the movement to get by.

Set up: pads aligned with bolts, feel flattened and turned in with big toes touching (helps ankle pressure to flatten down and in)...
Not sure: knees out or in, and core/glute flexing or not. Sometimes it seems like knees in and flexed is best for hips, other times like knees out and not overdoing bracing. More the latter near the end: knees out, flatten feet, don't overthink bracing and just get a good breath, and go for it.

[CharlesSwann]

07/29
Bench: 280 for 2x12, 1x11
Seal row: 215 for 3x8

[CharlesSwann]

08/01
Sumo from pads: 605x1, 655x1, 700x1, 720x0
Overhead press: 160x5, 185x4, 195x3, 205x3
Kneeling sissy squat: (4 hands)x10,10, (3 hands)x12, (2 hands)x10 -- squeezing glutes as hard as possible is a huge cue here, and also bare knees worked better than sweatpants which slipped too much

Floated 720 but didn't have the energy today... haven't pulled for a while so this seems like a good goal. I want to keep doing conventional block stuff too, and I think I should keep ducking squats a bit, so I'll probably do a deadlift-y + some kneeling sissy + a bit of squatting block somehow. Need to think about it a bit.]

For the squats, (2 hands)x10 was a decent difficulty, so 3x10 at that level of assistance + a harder test set after seems good for next go.
Good technical cues: knees wide, stand up tall, flex glutes, flex abs, descend slowly and in control. I liked putting the band behind my back and holding weight, tried it with 10lbs and 20lbs... tough but a good set up. Even with weight +bands feels more natural than doing it totally free, so I might try that next time instead of the 2-hands distance thing.

Also going to bring back the "days since" thing to help keep track of my whishy rehab routine. Need to do chin ups soon.

Days since:
Sumo/conv: 0/x
Sledge/grippers: x/x
Rows/pull ups: 3/12

[CharlesSwann]

08/05
Conventional from pads: 495x1, 535x1, 545x1, 565x1, 585x1, 605x1
Kneeling supported knee extensions: (25lbs)x5,x8,x10

Huge burn on the quads on the x10... the x5 I was feeling out form. Still kinda learning these. I can shoot for 3x10 before adding weight, but adding weight is kinda tough. Easy to hold a 25lbs bumper but I don't have a 35, and 45lbs is a big jump (maybe?)...

Tomorrow I want to do bench, chins, and grip.

[CharlesSwann]

Tired and weak today..

08/06
Bench: 280 for 3x10
Chin ups: 65x7,6,6

Bit too burned out for grip today, oops. Maybe later tonight if I can sneak a nap in.

[CharlesSwann]

Tried a few different difficulties and set ups today. The band + weighted feels better than just body weight, like I get better quad work in. Like I said before, though, it's hard to add more weight so I might have to switch at some point anyway.

08/11
Kneeling supported knee extensions: (25lbs)x10,10
Kneeling supported knee extension to pad: (45lbs)x4,8
Kneeling knee extension to pad: (BW)x8
Kneeling supported knee extension to pad: (45lbs)x10

Overhead press: 150x5, 170x4, 185x4,4

Tomorrow should be seal row and grip. Sumo soon. Maybe try squats again eventually? Though the knee extensions are feeling decentish for now and I know I'm not 100%.

[CharlesSwann]

08/12
Seal row: 215 for 3x10
Grippers: (#2.5)x8,7,6

Tomorrow I'll do sumo and more kneeling knee extensions.

[CharlesSwann]

08/13
Sumo from blocks: 595 for 5x6, then x5 + 1

Moved knee extensions to tomorrow, quads are shot from recent work + a ton of bicycling every day lately.

Missed the last rep of the 6x6 like an inch or two below lockout, frustrating. I had a pretty bad day though (aforementioned cycling + actual work) so I'll count the 6x6 as good enough and move on to the 5x5 @ ~630 goal. Hate high reps (like 6x6) and I should be close enough to give the 5x5 a good run anyway. Plus 5x5 is satisfying enough to pick at and even repeat if necessary, so let's give it a go.

[CharlesSwann]

Still exhausted, oh man. Work is brutal too. Good to get a solid workout in though.

08/15
Bench: 280x12,11,9
Kneeling supported knee extension, narrow "stance" to pad: (BW)x10, (10lbs)x10, (25lbs)x10, (45lbs)x10,10
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (17.5cm)x12s,8s,5s [28s best, 25s today]

Should do chins tomorrow.

For the knee extensions, 25lbs felt easy and smooth. A bit too easy. The first 45lbs was too messy and my ankles hurt a lot. I did another set with a towel underneath my ankles, and it went much, much better. Even so, I notice it's really important to brace well and control the descent to get good rep quality. If I rush, I end up leaning back to touch quicker, having my knees pop up at the bottom (which kills rep quality), and crunching a bit to ascend (gets height and momentum with core instead of quads at the hardest point).

Next time: pad + towel, fight for rep quality via controlled descent (avoid knees coming up at the bottom) and leading up with the hips (+glutes), pushing patiently but firmly.
Two big problems to look for are (1) rushing down and the knees coming up, and (2) losing the brace and crunching up to make the start of the ascent easier.
Something like 25lbs for 10, then 45lbs for 3x10 should be a decent session goal for now, focusing on rep quality.

[CharlesSwann]

08/16
Chin ups: 65x7,7,6

[CharlesSwann]

Second dose kicked my ass so I had to push back a bit.

08/19
Overhead press: 165x5, 175x5, 185x5, 200x5
Kneeling supported knee extension to pad: (45lbs)x10 -- these are starting to hurt, especially my ankle, even with a towel underneath, so I shifted to:
Kneeling knee extension to pad: (BW) for 4x10
Seal row: 215 for 2x11,10
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1

Looks like my strength/mobility improved enough to make unsupported knee extensions viable, which is great. I have to be really, really careful to keep form clean, like 100% focus.

Best set up: knees around edge of pad, feet in line, settle into it comfortable while sitting (feel out a stable and balanced position); get up on knees, brace glutes, brace upper back, hands on hips, good breath; descend back slowly focusing 100% on pushing knees down.

If I get into a good balance and focus hard on my knees, I can touch down smoothly and get up smoothly too, but it's hard. A single is easy, but across a set of 10 I have a couple reps where I start to slip a little bit. Main goal now is to get a smooth 3x10, then I'll look at adding 10-25lbs.

[CharlesSwann]

08/21
Conventional from blocks: 485 for 6x6
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: (1 hand) for 3x10

[CharlesSwann]

08/23
Bench: 280x12,10,10
Beltless highbar: 315x3, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3 [0.50-0.43m/s], 445x1
Chin ups: 65 for 3x7

[CharlesSwann]

08/25
Beltless highbar: 405x1, 435x1, 455x1 [0.36m/s], 365x3 + some paused singles with 225 for groove
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (17.5cm)x13s,7s,7s [28s best, 27s today], (5cm) for 3x30s

[CharlesSwann]

08/26
Overhead press: 165x5, 190x4, 200x3, 210x3
Seal row: 215x12,11,10
Strict EZ-bar curls: 120 for 3x4

[HomeGymChains]

Very impressed with your curl numbers!

[CharlesSwann]

08/28
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x1, 435x1, 465x1 [0.28m/s] + some paused singles with 225 for groove/rehab
Grippers: (#2.5)x7,7,8



Small note: 0.28m/s actually felt reasonably easy... problem is, I had 0.27m/s as my minimum speed guess for calcs. It must be a fair bit lower, so I've tentatively dropped it a bit to 0.24m/s, which is actually pretty conservative. Trying to lean towards more measured/conservative changes here instead of going crazy.

I'll keep doing singles for now, so hopefully I can iron out the bottom end of the speed curve with more data soon, though I shouldn't be screwing around too far below 0.28m/s until I feel really healthy.

Very impressed with your curl numbers!

Thanks! I'm glad to get these going... I was always one of those guys who got too much wrist pain using a barbell, finally got an EZ-curl bar going and having a lot of fun.

Always good to upgrade the home gym, kind of a pain to get everything though... I'd love a leg press one day, and a hyper, and...