In Search of Strength

[CharlesSwann]

10/07
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1 [0.31m/s]
Pull ups: BW for 3x15
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (9cm) for 3x30s [87s best, 90s today]

First front squat above 405 since February of this year. Secretly hoped I'd be able to go heavier but it didn't feel good today. Let's see how it goes at either 1x/week or 1.5x/week for now.

A few technical notes:
- bar speed drops much faster than linearly around 0.40m/s or less
- smaller jumps are probably better, especially after getting used to high bar... at least when I'm sub 0.50m/s or so, though I'll double check my singles history. Either way, 10-20lbs would've definitely been better today, just expected too much
- given the above, I'm tempted to aim for more "quality singles" and set a limit a bit away from 0.40m/s (e.g. 0.45m/s) with smaller jumps... and then if I have an especially good day I can push for a PR etc... but I'll have to see how it actually feels once I get some momentum

Another idea I had while doing the last two lifts is to just repeat decent singles above some minimum until I get my speed up closer to where I'd like (for example I'd like to hit 435 between 0.50-0.56m/s, not 0.31m/s...).

[CharlesSwann]

10/08
Bench: 340x4 and 3x3 -- repeating until I hit 4x4 (still alternating with 6x2 at 300 filler sessions, though)
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1

Still a bit tired from last heavy session, but felt like I still got some good benching in. Should be able to 4x4 on a good day based on how the 335 session went.

- - - - - - - - - -

Small note about front squats: I was reviewing my log/tracker history, and I noticed after every singles PR, kinda by coincidence, I ended up following up with a very sluggish/difficult back squat top set of 435 between 0.20 and 0.36m/s... so the front squat session yesterday is actually pretty promising if it tracks with the recent back squat sessions. I'm not expecting to jump up to 500lbs right away, but hopefully it does mean I was underperforming.

I'm still not sure how often I want to front squat. Part of me wants to get "revenge" by replacing HB with FS tomorrow morning, but I'm going to try to resist for now. If I was 100% sure I had the strength for my goal maybe I could focus in, but for now I can still build good leg strength with a balance of HB/FS.

Right now I'm squatting 3x/week, basically, and the two main options are either HB/FS/HB repeating, or just straight up alternating.

[CharlesSwann]

10/09
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 425x2 [0.38-0.28m/s]
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: (11cm) for 3x10

OK, I must be exhausted. All squat working sets are way down since Tuesday. Going to rest up a bit and eat well this Thanksgiving weekend (Canada) and try my sumo block pulls in a bit. Hopefully I'm not too tired to hit a decent set there too.

Right now I'm squatting 3x/week, basically, and the two main options are either HB/FS/HB repeating, or just straight up alternating.

Oh, also, I'm like 80% decided on doing the 1x/week front squats (HB/FS/HB cycles) instead of alternating the two squats. High bar has been working so well lately, might as well keep in that direction.

[CharlesSwann]

10/11
Sumo block pull: 700x4, 705x2 -- misgrooved
~30 minutes later:
Sumo block pull: 705x6

EZ-bar seal row: 265 for 3x3 -- repeat stricter

There we go! Lost to balance the first time around (misgrooved third and took an extra 4-5 seconds locking out), but felt fast and thought I could hit five. Tried again with 705 after a rest, but I was pooped.

Bit after the workout I felt frustrated (especially with my low pull frequency => high cost for revenge) so I decided to reset and give it another go. This time even the 6th rep was fast and easy, wasn't expecting that.

[CharlesSwann]

10/12
Bench: 300 for 6x2
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (10cm) for 3x30s

[CharlesSwann]

10/13
Front squat: 405x1 [0.34m/s]

Yikes, my worst front squat by far since I bought the tracker (over a year). The squat tilt is real.

Maybe fatigue from Monday's block pulls? At this point numbers are so down I don't even care what the reason is.

Deload? I don't really want to, but stubbornness only gets so far. I'll try one more high bar session around Sat and give it a think then.

[CharlesSwann]

10/15
Bench: 340x4,4,3,3
Pull ups: 115x3,3,2 -- first second good, second set iffy
Grippers: #2.5x3,5,7 -- seems like I struggled in the earlier sets because I got lazy setting

Decent workout. Felt tired/out of it but went OK.

[CharlesSwann]

About wrapping up this mini-deload...

10/19
Paused front squat: 365 for 6x2
Bench: 300 for 6x2
EZ-bar seal row: 265 for 3x3 -- getting better in terms of strictness
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: (12cm) for 3x5

Front squat note: I noticed I felt much stronger with a narrow stance and knees forward than the wide kind of sit-between-your-feet squat I defaulted to with high bar. Gotta play with this a bit more to work out what exactly works best right now.

[CharlesSwann]

Lost a bit of time dealing with some life stuff. I'll be able to train really hard starting next Monday. I think I'll do daily/high frequency big grind stuff and hopefully not hurt myself (hehe).

Want to hit 1-2 squat sessions before Monday to "warm up" (and get DOMS out of the way as much as possible).

10/26
Bench: 340 for 3x3 -- felt a bit rusty but did alright
Conventional from blocks: 575 for 3x3
Pull ups: BWx17,17,16
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (11cm) for 30s,27s,28s (85s best)

Lost momentum on my bench plan, think I'll plan a new approach/frequency/etc. starting Monday. I think I'd like to keep in OHP too. I would love some pec strength isolation like the pseudo-cable pec dec again, but it's such a pain to set up. Need something home gym friendly without two dumbbells. If I can't find anything I might do the cable thing anyway.

[CharlesSwann]

10/27
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 425x2, 445x2, 455x2 (0.39-0.31m/s)
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1

[CharlesSwann]

10/30
Slingshot bench: 405x1 (missed a double)
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 445x2, 465x2 (0.38-0.27m/s)
EZ-bar seal row: 265 for 3x3 -- repeat

[CharlesSwann]

I might be moving/travelling abroad for a few months, with some gym access. I've been thinking about my upcoming approach, and I think I want to shift away from pulling and deemphasize front squats (even though that's my main goal) and focus on my high bar strength. I do want to try to hit some reps with 300kg sumo from the floor this week. If I'm in decent shape it should go OK. After that I'm OK taking a break on pulls 'til I'm settled again.

It does seem most effective for my leg strength and hip health, right now at least, to focus on high bar. Probably the most likely approach to safely hit my goal is overshoot leg strength for the 500 FS and then do a quick peak for it. To that end, I think I'm aiming for 500x3ish.

For bench, I want to work my chest more, and I'm bored of the last approach, so doing some silly overwrought variations for a bit.

Anyway...

11/01
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 435x2, 455x2, 475x1, 475x1 (0.37m/s) -- very solid speed on 475, should've had a second but not today
Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 275x3, 305x3, 315x2, 305x3
Strict EZ-bar curls: 125 for 3x5
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: 12cm for 3x8

[HomeGymChains]

Sounds good!
Best wishes.

[CharlesSwann]

11/03
Sumo deadlift: 660x2

There we go! I'm happy retiring pulling for a little while and working on squats. Next goal would be 700x1 but getting a whole bunch stronger on squats is a good step there anyway.

After a break to recover:

Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 295 for 3x3
Pull ups: 115 for 3x3
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (11cm)x30s,20s,20s (85s best, 70s today)

[CharlesSwann]

11/05
Slingshot bench: 355x3, 365x3, 375x3

Had to push squats and grip to tomorrow.

[CharlesSwann]

11/06
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 435x2, 455x2 (0.40-0.31m/s)
EZ-bar seal row: 215x10,9,9
Grippers: #2.5x8,8,5

Squat moved OK but my lower back still felt shot from the deadlifts. One of those 'unrack, feel like you're gonna die, moves OK anyway' kinda days. Didn't push for a heavier double because I'd like to up the frequency instead. Will try some squats tomorrow.

[CharlesSwann]

11/07
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 435x2, 455x2, 475x2 (0.35-0.25m/s)
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: 12cm for 3x10

[CharlesSwann]

11/08
Overhead press: 185x3, 205x3, 215x2,3
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x3, 425x3, 445x2 (0.36-0.28m/s)
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (11cm)x30s,30s,21s (85s best, 81s today)

[CharlesSwann]

11/10
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 485x1, 505x1 (0.23m/s)
Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 305x3,3,4
Pull ups: 115x4,3,3

[CharlesSwann]

11/11
Front squat: 405x1, 425x1 (0.34m/s)
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1 -- got some good unassisted #3 closes today

Another technical note for FS: went better when I took a lot of time to breathe and settle after unracking.

[CharlesSwann]

11/12
Slingshot bench: 365x3, 375x3, 385x2
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 435x2
Seal row: 275x4,4,5 -- forgot to load the ez-curl bar, too lazy to switch
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: 12cm for 3x10 -- repeat

Ran out of battery on the speed tracker for squats on this one. Flew a bit blind, but it was definitely an especially slow/weak day.

Just regret not having the data to build out the curves. Obvious and unsurprising trend is after I hit a PR set (e.g. from the 10th) I take a pretty big strength dive for a few days.

Will be interesting to see how long/strong the effect is, but I'm off tomorrow to visit my parents which will through things off a bit.

Also seems like barbell seal rows are much 'stronger' than ez-bar, pretty interesting, just from the few inches ROM?

[CharlesSwann]

11/15
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x3, 435x3, 455x3 -- pretty fast, probably not today's 3RM, but no numbers this time
Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 305 for 4x4
Pull ups: 115 for 4x4
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (11cm) for 3x30s (85s best, 90s today)

Charged my tracker on Friday, left for the weekend and left the 'on' switch on, started squatting and it was dead. Another session of missed data, too bad. This was some solid triples too, I'd have a better idea of a potential top set.

[CharlesSwann]

11/16
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 475x1 (0.32m/s)
EZ-bar curls: 130x5,4,3

[CharlesSwann]

Quick break from my regular programming, nervous/stressed about something and yolo pulling for fun/outlet.

11/17
Deadlift: 625x1, 700x0

Didn't feel strong today overall, but 700 actually felt pretty good in my hands. I think I'll be able to get it soon, though I'm still 100% focusing on squats for the next little while (which will indirectly help my pull anyway).

Next session should be FS + OHP + grip on 11/19.

[CharlesSwann]

11/18
Front squat: 405x1, 435x1, 455x1 (0.33m/s)
Overhead press: 185x1, 205x1, 225x1, 250x0,1
Assisted gripper close from parallel clamp: (#3) for 5x1

[CharlesSwann]

11/19
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x3, 445x3, 465x3 (0.42-0.34m/s)
Seal row: 315 for 3x2 -- way too cheaty, was just bored of the normal sets
Sledgehammer wrist pronation: 12cm for 3x12 -- repeat

[CharlesSwann]

11/21
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 435x2, 455x2 (0.36-0.24m/s)
Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 305x5,5,4

[CharlesSwann]

11/23
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x1, 445x1, 475x1, 495x1, 520x1 (0.24m/s)
Slingshot bench: 365x3, 385x3, 405x1
Pull ups: 115 for 3x5
Sledgehammer deadlift + hold: (12cm)x30s,20s,20s (70s first session)

Hot damn. The squat-momentum-train is definitely picking up some serious steam.

Big note is that my belted low bar is significantly higher than my beltless highbar... I wouldn't be surprised if I'm good for around ~660lbs/300kg in my powerlifting squat soon. Getting hyped!

[CharlesSwann]

11/25
Front squat: 405x1, 425x1, 445x1 (0.27m/s)
Illegally wide paused Larsen bench: 305x5,5,4

The cosmic balance of lifting karma. Any time I have a particularly good squat session, the next few feel pretty bad.

Not surprising, but definitely does balance out the mood after a good day.

[CharlesSwann]

Even more squat fatigue. 225 starting to feel a bit heavy.

11/26
Beltless ATG highbar: 405x2, 425x2, 445x2 (0.30-0.27m/s)
Seal row: 225 for 3x10
Grippers: #2.5x5,3,4