In Search of Strength

[CharlesSwann]

09/18
Overhead press: 225x1,2,1 -- still inconsistent at high RPE, but that makes this practice good
Seal row w/ narrow grip & pause: 225 for 3x5 -- surprisingly fun
Dumbbell pronation: 7.5 for 5x10 -- clip,2.5,5,clip

Tomorrow should be front squats + grip. Feeling good lately. Hope I can put some good things together soon.

[CharlesSwann]

09/19
Front squat: 375 for 6x2
Wrist roller hold: 80x10s,8s,4s

[CharlesSwann]

Bit tired going in, might not be the best benching but best timing to do it for sure.

09/20
Bench: 315x5,5,4 -- haha damn, 3x5 was in the bag, but I hit the safety and misgrooved badly on rep 2.. surprised I still made 4
Sledgehammer DL: (10cm) for 3x30s

Bench coming back up to speed steadily. Happy to just hit 3x5 next time and then on to 320 or whatever. Still a good session.

[CharlesSwann]

09/22
Beltless ATG highbar: 470 for 4x4 !!!
Pinch DL & hold: 47.5x15s,12s,11s (PR 34s) -- new chalking strategy went a long way today

Squats going great. I'm on a great course here. Next session is 500 for 3x3, which would be really cool to hit.

[CharlesSwann]

09/23
Pull ups: 135x1, 90x8, 45x12, BWx20

Still super bored with pull ups.

[CharlesSwann]

09/25
Front squat: 375 for 5x2 + 385x2

The sets were still too easy, so I tested the waters with 385 on the last one and it was still super fast! Squat strength feels amazing lately.

[EliKoehn]

wow.. you're making amazing progress man. I’ll be following along. You’ll get a lot of support here! Keep it up.

Yes, seconded on that.

Awesome work and keep it up.

[CharlesSwann]

09/26
Overhead press: 225x1,1,2, 235x1 -- haha, still can't get more than one double going
Strict EZ-bar curls: 125 for 3x3
Grippers: #2x8,8, #2.5x1

wow.. you're making amazing progress man. I’ll be following along. You’ll get a lot of support here! Keep it up.

Yes, seconded on that.

Awesome work and keep it up.

Thank you, much appreciated! Good to have you.

[CharlesSwann]

09/28
Beltless ATG high bar: 500 for 3x3!!!
Wrist roller hold: 90x3s,2s,2s, 45x30s

What an awesome landmark! Great way to celebrate about 10 years of this lifting journal. It's been a trip, been through a lot since then. I think my total went from ~1000lbs to ~1750lbs but I haven't been doing as much 1RM PL stuff for quite a bit (shifted away after some chronic hip issues). Once I hit my front squat goal I want to max low bar and DL again though. Bench I'm still slowly clawing my way up to 405lbs.

Anyway, my old rule of thumb is if I tripled something high bar I can start thinking about it for a front squat single, and I hope that's still true! After I finish this routine (2x2 with 525 and 1x1 with 550lbs left over the next week or two) I'll probably start trying to peak front squats. They've been feeling great lately but I haven't gone much above 385lbs for probably over a year either.

[HomeGymChains]

09/28
Beltless ATG high bar: 500 for 3x3!!!
Wrist roller hold: 90x3s,2s,2s, 45x30s

What an awesome landmark! Great way to celebrate about 10 years of this lifting journal. It's been a trip, been through a lot since then. I think my total went from ~1000lbs to ~1750lbs but I haven't been doing as much 1RM PL stuff for quite a bit (shifted away after some chronic hip issues). Once I hit my front squat goal I want to max low bar and DL again though. Bench I'm still slowly clawing my way up to 405lbs.

Anyway, my old rule of thumb is if I tripled something high bar I can start thinking about it for a front squat single, and I hope that's still true! After I finish this routine (2x2 with 525 and 1x1 with 550lbs left over the next week or two) I'll probably start trying to peak front squats. They've been feeling great lately but I haven't gone much above 385lbs for probably over a year either.

Congratulations!!! Great job!

[CharlesSwann]

Congratulations!!! Great job!

Thank you! Good to see you. Hope things are well, looking forward to more journal updates down the line.

[CharlesSwann]

09/30
Bench: 315 for 3x5
Dumbbell pronation: 10 for 5x10 -- 5,5,clip

[CharlesSwann]

10/01
Front squat: 385 for 6x2

This was pretty much the first kinda tough front squat session, just didn't feel strong. Makes me a bit nervous for the upcoming 2x2 high bar session, but hopefully I'll get enough rest in!

[CharlesSwann]

10/04
Beltless ATG high bar: 525 for 2x2!!!
Sledgehammer DL: (11cm)x30s,28s,25s

Previous PR of 520x1 blown out. Next week is a 550 attempt.

[CharlesSwann]

10/06
Overhead press: 225 for 3x2 -- finally more than one double!! haha
Seal row w/ narrow grip & pause: 230 for 3x5
Pinch DL & hold: 47.5x11s,15s,15s (PR 38s) -- first set probably a chalking thing, sigh

[CharlesSwann]

10/07
Front squat: 385 for 6x2
Strict EZ-bar curls: 125x2,2,3
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1

Heading over to the family for Thanksgiving. Next session should be a 550x1 beltless high bar attempt on Monday (10/10). Nervous and excited.

Basically if I'm same condition as last squat session then I'm sure I have it. Just need a decent day.

[CharlesSwann]

10/10
Beltless ATG high bar: 550x1, 560x1!!!
Wrist roller hold: 80x12s,10s,6s (PR 22s)
Dumbbell pronation: 10 for 5x10 -- 5,5,clip,clip

That's an insane PR for me (previous best single was 520 earlier in the year too). I think I might have a 660-700lbs belted low bar in me literally right now. Going to go for the 500 front squat first though, then see what I can do with the PL total.

[HomeGymChains]

10/10
Beltless ATG high bar: 550x1, 560x1!!!
Wrist roller hold: 80x12s,10s,6s (PR 22s)
Dumbbell pronation: 10 for 5x10 -- 5,5,clip,clip

That's an insane PR for me (previous best single was 520 earlier in the year too). I think I might have a 660-700lbs belted low bar in me literally right now. Going to go for the 500 front squat first though, then see what I can do with the PL total.

Extremely impressive!!!
Great job!

[CharlesSwann]

Still figuring out the next plan. I want to focus on my FS goal for now, and maybe phase in really light low bar as a mix of light work/readapting to low bar. But adding both I risk aggravating hip and having issues for months, so maybe better not to, at least until I hit my FS goal. I'll think about it.

Anyway, still bench, OHP, back work, and grip as usual.

10/11
Bench: 320 for 3x4

Tomorrow pull ups + grip.

Extremely impressive!!!
Great job!

[CharlesSwann]

10/13
Pull ups: 70 for 3x10
Sledgehammer DL: (11cm)x30s,28s,24s (-1s vs PR)

Still a bit sore from Monday's PR, but I think I'll test the waters on a some front squat singles tomorrow.

I was going through old videos and I forgot I hit 550x6 low bar three years back. I can't believe I pulled it off back then. I miss low bar. More and more tempted to phase it back in and see what I can do.

[CharlesSwann]

10/14
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1, 455x1 (0.37m/s)

Still a bit fatigued, but not sure my overall condition for these.

[CharlesSwann]

10/15
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1 (0.45m/s)

Definitely too soon for this session, haha. I might take a lightish week, felt rough and unmotivated today.

[CharlesSwann]

10/17
Beltless low bar (5-5-5 tempo): 135 for 3x5
Overhead press: 225x2,2, 230x2



Will do some stripped down training for a bit until I feel good again, but still some decent work in there.

Decided to slowly phase back in low bar after all. My plan is to do tempo stuff up until around 495lbs, then try for a solid 500x12 set. I'm hoping if I start low weight tempo and add weight slowly I'll have less risk of injury (esp. hip).

Not sure what to do with my main front squat goal. After adding like 50lbs to my high bar since hitting 465x1 front squat, I expected stronger sets than this right out of the gate. I'll have to see how the next bunch of sessions develop, hopefully I'm just fatigued and out of practice for now.

Next session should be front squat singles + back work on 10/19.

[EliKoehn]

Good grief... 230x2 OHP? Standing? That is absolutely insane.

[CharlesSwann]

10/19
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1, 455x1 (0.44m/s)
... few hours break ...
Front squat: 405x1, 445x1 (0.46m/s)

So there's a lot going on here with my front squat. The actual squat speed feels good and I'm hitting new speed PRs, but I'm having a lot of set up/technical issues with the front rack and keeping it together on near max weights.

I took that break because I actually decided to load up and try different cues later because I was so frustrated.

Anyway, in the evening I ended up unracking 475 a few times but I just kept blacking out. Eventually I hit the right set up and unracked it comfortably and felt strong, but I was overall too tilted (and like 20min+ out from my last actual squat) to try the single. I can't hit the comfortable set up consistently yet though. It seems like tiny changes make a huge difference, like how early I start "pre-loading" the weight during set up and how exactly I breath before unracking. It doesn't matter as much with like 405, but 475+ it seems like I have to be 100% on point to keep it together.

What I think I did on the good 475 unrack:
- step under
- don't load at all yet (this seems the most important, before I was already preloading a bit and I think this causes problems)
- shimmy bar behind delts
- chest up
- elbows up "as much as possible" (but not really, lol)
~ around this part I'm not sure if I should start loading before breathing in, or only after, and this actually seems like a pretty important difference... I played with just the bar later and it actually seems like elbows up kinda naturally loads me anyway
~ also not sure but it seemed to help to be pretty quick about the 3-part shimmy-chest-elbows set up part, but I'm not sure about this as long as it's not loaded

Good grief... 230x2 OHP? Standing? That is absolutely insane.

Haha, thank you! I've started to really like OHP in the past few years and I think it's started to pay off.

[CharlesSwann]

To be honest I think I'll strip down training even more for a little while.

I'm super tilted with this front squat inconsistency and burning out mentally trying stuff out every time I pass the rack at my place and just overall upper back fatigue (even my upper arm bones ache somehow).

I'm sure with a bit of time things will even out a bit and hopefully my training will normalize. I can't help but devoting like 100% to this issue for now though. It's eating me. I can feel I've got potential for more and I have to figure out this positioning stuff.

edit w/ a bit more practice, unracked 500 a few times successfully:
- step under
- don't load
- shimmy behind delts (not sure elbows down or forward)
- chest up
- elbows up (seems possibly rotation matters too)
- pre-load
- breathe out and in, unrack
~ pace doesn't seem to matter much

[CharlesSwann]

I've been practicing more with just the bar and I think I've refined the rack position quite a bit more, but I haven't tried loading it, so that's the true test. Sometimes stuff feels good with the bar but falls apart at working weight. If the 23rd goes well I'll mark down the cues/set up. I might still be too fatigued/sore to actually put up good numbers, but hopefully I can gauge form quality still.

Either way I'm starting to suspect there's a few factors at play here. I thought increasing leg strength would give me more mileage than it did. I think my bottleneck for now is: (1) technique/confidence, (2) not being used to heavy work anymore, (3) and trunk strength.

(1) I'm working hard on this one and I think I'm making strides. The most annoying part for this one is form breakdown and sensitivity increases near max but it's super fatiguing to get up there, so I can't work on this as much as I'd like. Even 405lbs I can get away with pretty bad racking. It seems like things get ugly for me ~475lbs+.

(2) This one should naturally work out just by keeping up with it. So far every session has been better than the last one, though that's not saying much just a few sessions deep. Either way, I'll just keep at it and then reevaluate.

(3) Similar to (2). I am pretty sure I used to have much more upper back strength than I do now (I used to rack hold mid-600s for 30s and now I feel crushed unracking 500) so I'm hoping it'll come back up to speed naturally with direct work. But I'm also wondering if I should do more reps (tricky because weight is more of an issue than time) or direct rack work (like weighted holds at 90-120% of max) to try to target it more. Leaning towards either no extra work or adding the weighted holds, but then my actual front squats will definitely suffer from the added upper back fatigue. Sometimes that "cost" is way worth the benefit though.

Anyway, today's work:

10/21
Beltless low bar (5-5-5 tempo): 185 for 3x5

[CharlesSwann]

I think my rack cues ended up decent but the fatigue was too high as I kinda expected, especially upper back/shoulder stuff. Elbows started dropping ~405ish which is early. I'm getting some kind of pain in the back of my shoulder too, too much work too soon.

10/23
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1 (0.49m/s)

edit:

Snatch-grip round-upper-back rack pull: 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 495x1,1,1 + 10s hold

Playing around with ways to build thoracic strength without loading my collarbone. Not sure if this helps, just wanted to try. I also tried doing like an upper back hyper from the bench but it was too awkward to load and a lot of pressure on the ribs/stomach.

[PhDPepper1111]

Good to see you in full swing Charles! Keep going!
I responded to your question in my thread - yep, keeping at it and competing in two weeks! Thanks for the encouragement!

[CharlesSwann]

Tried to do weighted pull ups and the same front squat pain came up. Looks like I have some minor lat injury. Will take a bit of time off and decide how to handle it with fresh eyes.