In Search of Strength

[CharlesSwann]

06/01
Barbell seal row: 225x5,5,5 -- I only touched at the top well for the first couple reps but I didn't want to lower the weight
Grippers: #2.5x3
Attempt + assisted close + 5ct hold: parallel choked #3x1,1,1
Sledgehammer lever: (4H1F)x10
Sledgehammer lever + 3ct hold: (1H)x3, (2H)x3 (had to bend elbow to make it), (1H1F)x3, (1H2F)x5 (good difficulty here-ish)

Grippers are all over the place. 8 reps one day, feels like I can barely close the next week. I'm trending downwards lately though. Fatigue? I notice grippers treat me okay if I don't worry about stuff like that and keep trucking. I can still do some damage to the choked #3 on any given day. It's rare that I can close it but that happens sometimes too.

Levers started to feel a bit cheaty so I switched to a hold at the top. Lower reps because the holds are tiring (and boring tbh).

[CharlesSwann]

06/03
OHP: 210x3,2,2
High bar squat: 225x10,10,10
Wrist wrench DL and hold: 65x15s,15s,15s

[CharlesSwann]

06/04
One hand pull down: 70x3,3, 80x3,3,3

Giving my grip/forearm stuff a break today, my hands are tired. I did some hip rehab too.

[CharlesSwann]

Rehab continues, going pretty okay.

06/05
Bench: 225x10,10,10
Front squat: 225x5,5,10
Pinch deadlift hold: 35.5x14s,15s,20s

[CharlesSwann]

06/06
Pull ups: 45x8,8,8
Pronation curls: 50x8,8,8
Band pull-down-and-aparts: (black band)x20,20,20

[CharlesSwann]

06/07
Bench: 255x7,7,10
High bar squat: 255x10,10,10

[CharlesSwann]

Took a day off for a pretty bad cold. Still sick but OK today.

06/09
Strict seal row: 135x3, 185x5, 205x5,5, 215x5 -- I switched to thumbless with straps and it felt much stronger (at least easier to touch at the top)
Some hip airplanes
Grippers: #2.5x3, #2x13
Attempt + assisted close + 5ct hold: parallel choked #3x1,1,1
Sledgehammer lever + 3ct hold: (1H2F)x5,5,5

[CharlesSwann]

Recovery train keeps choo-chooing.

06/10
Overhead press: 210x3,3,3
Front squat: 255x5,5,10
Wrist wrench DL and hold: 70x10s,10s,11s

[CharlesSwann]

06/11
Pull ups: 55x8,8,8
Pinch DL and hold: 38x9s,6s,10s

[CharlesSwann]

06/12
Bench: 275x5,5,9
High bar squat: 225x3,3,3, 285x10,10,10
Dumbbell wrist supported pronation: 10x10, 15x2, 12.5x10,10,10, 15x8

Skipped pronation curls, my wrist is a bit cranky from those.

[CharlesSwann]

06/13
Seal row: 215x5,5,5
Grippers: #2.5x1
Attempt + assisted close + 5ct hold: parallel choked #3x1,1,1

Grippers feeling worse and worse each session. Time for a break? Not yet, I guess. But maybe I can change the loading.

[CharlesSwann]

06/14
Bench: 285x4,4,7
Front squat: 135x5, 225x3,3, 285x5,5,10

[CharlesSwann]

Small break for fatigue. No need to push too hard during rehab. I'm adjusting to a new work situation too.

06/16
Dumbbell wrist supported pronation: 10x10
w/ 3-ct pause parallel to ground: 12.5x10,10,10, 15x5,5

[CharlesSwann]

06/17
Overhead press: 215x1,2,1,1,1
Beltless highbar: 225x3,3,1, 275x1, 315x10,10,10
Wrist wrench DL and hold: 70x15s,15s,15s

[CharlesSwann]

06/19
Pull ups: 65x5,6,6
Pinch DL and hold: 38x15s,15s,22s

Huge jump in pinch strength? Not sure why. Maybe I just chalked better, lol.

[CharlesSwann]

06/20
Bench: 265x6,6,11
Front squat: 315x5,5,6
Grippers: #2.5x6
Attempt + assisted close + 5ct hold: parallel choked #3x1,1,1
Sledgehammer lever + 3ct hold: (1H3F)x5,5,5

[CharlesSwann]

06/21
Strict seal row: 225x5,5,5 -- (3,4,3) repeat
Dumbbell wrist supported pronation w/ 3-ct pause: 15x8,8,8

[CharlesSwann]

06/22
Overhead press: 215x2,2,2
Beltless highbar: 365x3,3,10

OK, interesting rehab day. I was gauging my hip health and feeling okay but kinda iffy on the first two highbar sets. I did triples instead of my planned sets of five.

Then on the last set I kinda let go and just did the squats. They felt excellent, everything was much, much better.

So part of my problem here is... I legitimately need to rebuild my hip health and balance, but I also need to think less and just groove good squats.

Part of the temptation is to naively believe I can just ignore my thoughts and power through for clean, good squats, but my current plan is to do my best but keep a moderate workload (e.g. 375x3,3,3+ next time) and use that last set (knowing I can rest after and quit whenever during the set and move on; basically, less pressure) to send it and get some good workload/volume/groove/confidence/feel/whatever in. We'll see. Maybe I can get every set feeling good.

On the other hand, I spend a lot of sets warming up. I'll do 225 for many triples until it feels right. Then some doubles with 275/315, etc. Taking the time and warming up _is_ making a big difference. I'm not at the point where I just ignore my hip and squat hard and everything's good. Maybe I can spend more time warming up but then push harder on the reps. Maybe I can do a bunch of singles with my working weight before doing the normal reps? I don't know, let's play around with this.

[CharlesSwann]

06/23
Pull ups: 65x6,6,6
Wrist wrench DL and hold: 75x15s,12s,12s

[CharlesSwann]

06/24
Bench: 295x2,2, 305x6
Front squat: 365x2,2,5

I know I'm rehabbing and this is the most weight I've front squatted this year, but this felt pretty healthy but weak. Hopefully I get more strength back soon.

[CharlesSwann]

06/25
Seal row: 225x5,4,4 -- repeat (3,3,3)
Pinch DL and hold: 40.5x15s,15s,18s

[CharlesSwann]

06/27
Overhead press: 215x1,2,1 -- tough today, felt weak and misgrooved, plan was to push to six reps total, but three sets felt like enough today
Beltless highbar: 385x3,3,10
Dumbbell wrist supported pronation: 10x10, 12.5x5,8,8 -- changed my way of supporting the wrist to be more strict, had to drop the weight

[CharlesSwann]

Hip a little sore from yesterday. Bit too heavy/hard too fast maybe, guess I was wrong about the last time. I may push front squats back a day.

06/28
Pull ups: 65x8,8,8

Grippers: #2.5x0,2,2,1 -- damn, massive drop and lots of variability today, felt like I couldn't set well
Sledgehammer hold: (1H3F)x10s,10s,8s
Sledgehammer deadlift: (1H3F)x1, (2H)x1,2,2,1

Sledge stuff is weird. I'm having trouble keeping my elbow straight on my right hand. I can do it no problem on the left hand. I guess it's technically not a problem if my elbow bends, but it changes the joint angle and affects the difficulty. Hard to standardize if you're bending all over the place, no?

In the end I did the last few sets of deadlifts with a modest deliberate bend and tried to keep it even. Pretty fatigued by then though. I like the holds I guess? I'll try to maintain a bend? I don't know, I'll play around more next week.

[CharlesSwann]

06/30
Bench: 285x8
Front squat: 385x3,3,3
Wrist wrench DL and hold: 75x15s,15s,15s

Something is still wrong with my pec. I need to think about it.

[CharlesSwann]

07/01
Seal row: 225x5,5,5 -- repeat (4,3,3)
Pinch DL and hold: 43x12s,10s,12s

[CharlesSwann]

07/02
Overhead press: 185x2,2,2,2,2,2
Legs up bench w/ band suspended weight: 135x10,10,10
Goblet squats: 45x20,20,20

Doing the bench to low-key stress my chest and hopefully help that residual ache. Let's see if it helps or hurts.

Goblet squats also rehabby. I think it's good to do the squat movement but I notice the heavier stuff still bothers my hip a bit. Gonna dial back and balance some sessions with the goblet stuff. Next session should be beltless high bar at 405 for 2x3+.

[CharlesSwann]

07/03
Pull ups: 70x6,6,6
Pronation deadlift: 55x1,2,1, 50x1
Pronation cable pin: 20x5, 40x1,1,1,1, 45x1, 50x1, 55x0 -- LH yes RH no (note: arm 45 forward, body 45 away, brace hip on bench, get strap deep in the palm)

[CharlesSwann]

07/04
Overhead press: 185x3,3,3,3,3,3
Beltless highbar: 405x3,5
Sledgehammer deadlift: (2H)x5,5,3
Grippers: #2.5x5,7,5

[CharlesSwann]

07/05
Seal row: 205x8,8,8
Posting towel deadlift: 35x3,5, 40x3,3

[CharlesSwann]

07/06
Overhead press: 185x2,2,2,2,2,2
Front squat: 405x2

Not happy with how squats are recovering. I need to think a bit, I guess.