My Original Plan Was to Lift All of the Heavy Things

[VO2Maxima]

Strong squat day. I feel like as long as you're comfortable with the wraps, are enjoying them, and are hitting depth in them, why not go for it?

That's what I want to know lol. One of these days I'll be able to train with a deadlift bar (at something other than a meet) and figure these things out. I watched a video a while back of a guy training for strongman, where they use the super long bars with a ton of whip. And they were saying... watch how he lifts very slowly and deliberately to control the whip... and I'm like WHAT?!?!

Yeah if I pull slowly and deliberately the bar stays stuck to the floor lol.

[Partyrocking]

Strongmen deadlifting is a totally different animal. Sometimes they have to deadlift those tires:



Which is more like a banded deadlift than a traditional one since the weight is getting heavier as more tires leave the ground. They have to be able to control the whip in this case. A really fast pull would be like a deadlift with a band that's too tight. It would end badly.

That's my guess anyway. I only know of Strongman from what I see watching World's Strongest Man on tv (or supertraining videos).

[VO2Maxima]

Well they're also required to pull conventional, which is traditionally faster off the floor.

[Partyrocking]

True, but unlike powerlifting, strongman have different types of deadlifts that they may have to do in the competition. Since they don't know which one they'll get in advance, there's a reason for them to practice them all, including ones involving a slower start.

For powerlifting, it only make sense to pull the bar off the floor as fast as you can.

[thehobbes]

Chit you'd think that tire setup would be really wobbly side to side too.

[geek23ka]

in.

[thehobbes]

in.

G-dog you're back!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN GIRL?

[geek23ka]

G-dog you're back!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN GIRL?

sitting on the couch eating junk food and getting super fat.

tru nuff.

[thehobbes]

sitting on the couch eating junk food and getting super fat.

tru nuff.

Heehee, you been lifting??

[itsagoodday]

I am surprised to discover that everyone was posting in my journal yesterday. Except me.

Killer squats again OP! Any date in mind for an upcoming meet?

:: whips out 4 different jerky flavors ::

Oooooh, 4 flavors. That will work for me, but I don't know what everybody else will be having

Meet is April 23rd! 7 weeks and counting. This is usually the time panic starts setting in when I realize how little actual training time I have left lol.

Strong squat day. I feel like as long as you're comfortable with the wraps, are enjoying them, and are hitting depth in them, why not go for it?

I think I'm sold on the wraps for my meet. Feeling really good about making that decision! I'll email RPS when they're back and settled from XPC. Luckily it's just a simple division change from Raw Classic to Raw Modern, not a big deal at all.

Yeah if I pull slowly and deliberately the bar stays stuck to the floor lol.

This. Definitely this.

Oh, I'm with you both. I have two speeds when starting a deadlift, fast and no. Not slow, just no, because nothing happens. I prefer fast

Strongmen deadlifting is a totally different animal. Sometimes they have to deadlift those tires:

Which is more like a banded deadlift than a traditional one since the weight is getting heavier as more tires leave the ground. They have to be able to control the whip in this case. A really fast pull would be like a deadlift with a band that's too tight. It would end badly.

Hi there! Yeah, I figure the ten gazillion foot long bars they use in Strongman would make for a different creature. It's the thought that fascinates me though, just a curiosity if pulling slower on a really whippy deadlift bar could control that whip back effect. It makes sense in my head, not that I haven't had some theories before that turned out to be wrong. But I've never had a chance to play with it, and I'm sure not going to do that at a meet lol. I'd be standing there like "I didn't fail a deadlift so much as I just succeeded in proving a scientific experiment!!!!", but I don't think they'd give me white lights for that.

Interesting comparison to a banded deadlift, I hadn't thought of it that way!

in.

What the... geek!!!! What a pleasant surprise! I was thinking of you recently and wondering how you were doing.

sitting on the couch eating junk food and getting super fat.

Oh, are you in the right journal lol. Pass the remote

For powerlifting, it only make sense to pull the bar off the floor as fast as you can.

That is definitely the plan Oh, and then standing up with it. And not passing out. I have simple goals

[itsagoodday]

Saturday 3/5 - Gym

Chest Day

BENCH
5x95
3x115
(3x) 3x125
(3x) 6x105

Ugh, heavy bench felt heavy today. Would have loved to get all five sets in at 125, but I was coming a bit too close to dropping things on my head by the third set. Decided to back off and get some volume in with a weight I was less likely to brain myself with.

CLOSE GRIP BENCH
(3x) 5x95

Put my feet up on the bench for this and got my grip as close as I could so my elbows were pretty much skimming my sides. OK, that definitely hit the triceps.

WIDE GRIP BENCH
(3x) 5x95

I thought I was going to be able to put more weight on for the wide grip, but close grip killed me. I had some surprise grinders show up on the last rep of each of these sets lol.

DB FLYES - with 2 count pause
8x20's
(2x) 6x25's

My friend suggested trying these with the pause at the bottom. It was interesting, definitely made me aware of whether I was using my chest correctly or not.

DB HAMMER CURLS
10x25's
8x30's
6x35's

Was going to swap these out for EZ bar curls, but couldn't find the bar. I swear we have two of them, but I can usually either find one or none. Where on earth do people hide these things when they're done using them???? They must be in the men's locker room, because I looked everywhere else

DB INCLINE CHEST PRESS - with 1 second pause
8x35's
6x37's
3x40's

Ergh, would have been nice to put these before the flyes, but all the incline benches were busy at that point. What is it with me and paused dumbbell reps today. Went pretty well, but that fourth rep on the last set wasn't gonna happen.

CHIN UPS
(8x) 1xBW

Another day of singles with a hold at the top and slow negative. I can tell I'm a little lighter already, as I pretty much launched myself over the bar on the first few. And then I must have spontaneously gained 20 lbs, judging by how much more difficult the last few were. Hmmmm. Chin ups and pull ups are so, so sensitive to every single pound of bodyweight lost or gained. Great, maybe if I don't fall off the wagon, I can get sets of 2 next week When I get back to sets of 3 chins, I should be in the region of 1 wide grip pull up again. We'll find out when I get there. (Can you tell I've done this gain weight / lose weight thing before???)

DIPS
(3x) 2xBW

Hahaha! Yeah, I think I hit my triceps pretty good with close grip bench earlier. I've been getting sets of 6 on these recently, but on the third rep today I dropped like a stone.

Decided not to throw any leg or back accessories on today after all. I realized with my mom's surgery in the middle of the week, I need to get heavy squats and deads out of the way in the next few days anyway.

Diet accountability...
3/4 2177
3/5 1969

Not perfect, but I'll take it, especially considering how many days I've been running at 3K+ calories since November. Today was the first day I felt hungry, but I coped. On the first few days of every diet, I have to learn how to deal with hunger again. It's sort of an odd quirk with me. Before my celiac diagnosis 5+ years ago, getting hungry could make me really nauseous, to the point where if I tried to ignore it, I could get sick to my stomach. I used to get a bit panicky when I started diets before, I'm not really getting that anymore, but I am still *so* relieved when I'm hungry and nothing bad happens other than a little normal stomach growling.

[thehobbes]

Way to rampage the chest work OP! I like to think of those "everything feels heavy" days as a serious building day. After toughing out like 10 of those hard days you're pretty much guaranteed to either hit some mega PRs or all of a sudden have chit feel extremely easy. It's science.

Glad you're feeling better.

[geek23ka]

i remember heavy days, where it all just felt ****ed up, and hobbes is right/ i can't wait for the PR around the corner for you.

[VO2Maxima]

Nice chest day. I never know what to do on days everything feels heavy, whether to drop reps or drop weight, and sometimes I'll get through a set or two at the originally planned weight at lowered reps and then decide to drop weight, but by that time I'm tired and don't drop the weight enough and end up doing lowered reps at the lowered weight. I usually just try to justify it at that point by asking if I got a good stimulus in, but that may be the bodybuilder side of me talking lol.


Good luck to your mom with her surgery!

[itsagoodday]

Way to rampage the chest work OP! I like to think of those "everything feels heavy" days as a serious building day. After toughing out like 10 of those hard days you're pretty much guaranteed to either hit some mega PRs or all of a sudden have chit feel extremely easy. It's science.

Wait, I gotta go through 9 more hard days first? LOL. Hey, if I get a mega PR at the end, I'd sign up for that abuse!

Glad you're feeling better.

Thanks, me too Being el sicko is el sucko.

i remember heavy days, where it all just felt ****ed up, and hobbes is right/ i can't wait for the PR around the corner for you.

Ah, I like the way you two think I'll just time my ten bad days BEFORE my meet lol.

Nice chest day. I never know what to do on days everything feels heavy, whether to drop reps or drop weight, and sometimes I'll get through a set or two at the originally planned weight at lowered reps and then decide to drop weight, but by that time I'm tired and don't drop the weight enough and end up doing lowered reps at the lowered weight. I usually just try to justify it at that point by asking if I got a good stimulus in, but that may be the bodybuilder side of me talking lol.

Yeah, I have no idea what the best answer is for that. I started using back off sets just in the last few months, and I think they've saved my bacon a few times by letting me get more work in even on less than stellar days. Before I'd just go as heavy as I could on that day for whatever reps I could manage, then walk away to fight another day. I think as long as I do *something* it's all good. As opposed to like, throwing the bar through the window and running out of the building. Not that I haven't been tempted

Good luck to your mom with her surgery!

Thanks! Pre-op stuff tomorrow but the surgery isn't until Wednesday. Hoping it's pretty much a non-event in terms of both the surgery itself and any findings from it.

[itsagoodday]

Sunday 3/6 - Gym

Leg Day

SQUATS
5x135
5x165
5x195
5x215
(3x) 5x165 (no belt)

Decided I've been doing a ton of triples and singles lately, so wanted to see what I could do sticking with 5 reps per set today. I pretty much backed myself into a corner when I put 215 on the bar, previous best with that was 3 reps from I think just a week ago lol. Not saying it was pretty (hello again, lean), but I surprised myself and got the 5. I've always been really, notoriously bad at being able to rep out heavier weights. I thought women were supposed to be good at that? I didn't get the memo.

Also I'm starting to get ready for the meet by nudging myself out of my comfort zone with squats. I always use the cage in the basement at my gym, it's in a quiet corner and very few other people even go in the basement. When I get closer to meets, I start purposely using some of the other squat racks in the building, especially the ones that are smack in the middle of the room upstairs where there's lots of chaos. I like to bombproof myself a bit for squats, they're the only thing I get nervous about at meets. At my meet I'll have three judges, three spotters, and a guy running the monolift all very close by while I squat. So today I used a busy rack upstairs, had people walking all around me and brushing past while I squatted, people on the cardio equipment that is facing the racks staring at me, and just worked on keeping my focus. It seems like a silly little thing to do, but hey if it gives me some confidence in the end, it's worth doing.

FRONT SQUATS
8x95
6x105
4x115

Well, back squats did not destroy my quads today with the higher rep scheme, so that was nice. It must be the heavy singles work I've been doing that is wearing them out?? Felt like I could actually get some fronts in, and had no problems with them.

LEG EXTENSION
10x40's
8x45's
6x50's

Felt solid. Quads still not destroyed

1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING
10x20's
8x22's
6-ish x25's

I wrote in big letters on my program to do the left side first on the last set, but I guess I don't read. Got an easy 6 on the right, then went to the weaker left leg and got... I don't know... something sort of like reps. Sheesh.

Aiming for heavy deads maybe Tuesday, I think the pre-op stuff Monday will take a few hours so that will probably use up my workout time slot. If I have a small amount of time available, I'm going to try to sneak in extra chest stuff whenever I can, so maybe I'll be able to do that tomorrow. I can't do deadlifts in a small amount of time, they take like an hour minimum on their own these days, and that's not even counting accessories lol.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

[jsari23]

Sunday 3/6 - Gym

Leg Day

SQUATS
5x135
5x165
5x195
5x215
(3x) 5x165 (no belt)

Decided I've been doing a ton of triples and singles lately, so wanted to see what I could do sticking with 5 reps per set today. I pretty much backed myself into a corner when I put 215 on the bar, previous best with that was 3 reps from I think just a week ago lol. Not saying it was pretty (hello again, lean), but I surprised myself and got the 5. I've always been really, notoriously bad at being able to rep out heavier weights. I thought women were supposed to be good at that? I didn't get the memo.

Also I'm starting to get ready for the meet by nudging myself out of my comfort zone with squats. I always use the cage in the basement at my gym, it's in a quiet corner and very few other people even go in the basement. When I get closer to meets, I start purposely using some of the other squat racks in the building, especially the ones that are smack in the middle of the room upstairs where there's lots of chaos. I like to bombproof myself a bit for squats, they're the only thing I get nervous about at meets. At my meet I'll have three judges, three spotters, and a guy running the monolift all very close by while I squat. So today I used a busy rack upstairs, had people walking all around me and brushing past while I squatted, people on the cardio equipment that is facing the racks staring at me, and just worked on keeping my focus. It seems like a silly little thing to do, but hey if it gives me some confidence in the end, it's worth doing.

FRONT SQUATS
8x95
6x105
4x115

Well, back squats did not destroy my quads today with the higher rep scheme, so that was nice. It must be the heavy singles work I've been doing that is wearing them out?? Felt like I could actually get some fronts in, and had no problems with them.

LEG EXTENSION
10x40's
8x45's
6x50's

Felt solid. Quads still not destroyed

1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING
10x20's
8x22's
6-ish x25's

I wrote in big letters on my program to do the left side first on the last set, but I guess I don't read. Got an easy 6 on the right, then went to the weaker left leg and got... I don't know... something sort of like reps. Sheesh.

Aiming for heavy deads maybe Tuesday, I think the pre-op stuff Monday will take a few hours so that will probably use up my workout time slot. If I have a small amount of time available, I'm going to try to sneak in extra chest stuff whenever I can, so maybe I'll be able to do that tomorrow. I can't do deadlifts in a small amount of time, they take like an hour minimum on their own these days, and that's not even counting accessories lol.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

nice work with the squatting, hope all the pre op stuff goes smoothly tomorrow

[thehobbes]

Also I'm starting to get ready for the meet by nudging myself out of my comfort zone with squats. I always use the cage in the basement at my gym, it's in a quiet corner and very few other people even go in the basement. When I get closer to meets, I start purposely using some of the other squat racks in the building, especially the ones that are smack in the middle of the room upstairs where there's lots of chaos. I like to bombproof myself a bit for squats, they're the only thing I get nervous about at meets. At my meet I'll have three judges, three spotters, and a guy running the monolift all very close by while I squat. So today I used a busy rack upstairs, had people walking all around me and brushing past while I squatted, people on the cardio equipment that is facing the racks staring at me, and just worked on keeping my focus. It seems like a silly little thing to do, but hey if it gives me some confidence in the end, it's worth doing.

That's an excellent idea, I think that would really freak me out too to have a bunch of people standing so near me when I lift. Hell I can't even deal with having somebody in the bathroom stall next to me!

Best of luck to your mom, I hope all goes well!

[VO2Maxima]

Nice cardio squats. Yes 5 is cardio after doing singles and doubles for a while lol.

I legit don't notice other people around me at meets. Don't get me wrong, I'm appreciative of people coming to support me, but mainly I like that I have people to help me figure out attempts, talk to during other flights, and that I don't have to beg a random person for a liftoff. But the spotters, crowd, judges, etc...may as well not be there. I'll focus on the lead judge commands, but that's about all I hear...I'll be vaguely aware that the crowd is making noise, but mostly I'll watch videos after and be like "oh cool, people were cheering for me."

[thehobbes]

^^^Oh now I'm confused, itsagoodday, were you talking about more of a personal space issue with people being like right on top of you as you're lifting heavy ass weight, or more of a you don't like random people watching you type thing??

[Todayisforme]

Also I'm starting to get ready for the meet by nudging myself out of my comfort zone with squats. I always use the cage in the basement at my gym, it's in a quiet corner and very few other people even go in the basement. When I get closer to meets, I start purposely using some of the other squat racks in the building, especially the ones that are smack in the middle of the room upstairs where there's lots of chaos. I like to bombproof myself a bit for squats, they're the only thing I get nervous about at meets. At my meet I'll have three judges, three spotters, and a guy running the monolift all very close by while I squat. So today I used a busy rack upstairs, had people walking all around me and brushing past while I squatted, people on the cardio equipment that is facing the racks staring at me, and just worked on keeping my focus. It seems like a silly little thing to do, but hey if it gives me some confidence in the end, it's worth doing.

This morning at my gym, I was all confused! Couldn't understand WHY a few guys moved a ton of equipment to put a squat rack in the middle of the floor when it worked perfectly well where it was (they did put it all back). Reading this makes me think perhaps they are wanting to be more used to a little more chaos coming from all sides when they're lifting. Seems like an excellent notion, especially competing where there's lots of people, to just turn it all into "white noise" so you can just focus on your lifts and have no distractions.

I wrote in big letters on my program to do the left side first on the last set, but I guess I don't read. Got an easy 6 on the right, then went to the weaker left leg and got... I don't know... something sort of like reps. Sheesh.

I wrote in red on the top of my left hand this morning... "GO LEFT!!!" I finally added in some single arm pulls and know full well if I didn't remind myself when it came time to do them, I'd do my strong side first and not end up getting as many reps on the other side.

I hope all the pre-op stuff went well.

[geek23ka]

dang, girl. you've gotten stronger! nice squatting.

outfoxing yourself by switching things up is a really good way to prep for anything, not just a meet. <3 good work.

[thehobbes]

I wrote in red on the top of my left hand this morning... "GO LEFT!!!" I finally added in some single arm pulls and know full well if I didn't remind myself when it came time to do them, I'd do my strong side first and not end up getting as many reps on the other side.

Haha good thinkin'! Reminds me of when I was a little kid and my parents had to put tape on my shoes with RIGHT and LEFT on the tape cause I'd fuk that all up putting shoes on the wrong feet every single day. Sometimes we all need a little help.

[itsagoodday]

nice work with the squatting, hope all the pre op stuff goes smoothly tomorrow

Thanks!! My mom kinda failed her pre-op lol. Heart rate and blood pressure were both sky high, which they think was from a drug reaction, so she's off that drug and we'll just monitor it. And they found she's got an infection (not uncommon with the hydronephrosis, I guess) so she'll be on antibiotics for the next week. So no surgery tomorrow, and tentatively rescheduled for next Wednesday instead. Ay yi yi

That's an excellent idea, I think that would really freak me out too to have a bunch of people standing so near me when I lift. Hell I can't even deal with having somebody in the bathroom stall next to me!

LOL! Let's just say that if they ever randomly select me for a drug test, they're going to have to be very patient. Shy bladder FTW

Nice cardio squats. Yes 5 is cardio after doing singles and doubles for a while lol.

I legit don't notice other people around me at meets. Don't get me wrong, I'm appreciative of people coming to support me, but mainly I like that I have people to help me figure out attempts, talk to during other flights, and that I don't have to beg a random person for a liftoff. But the spotters, crowd, judges, etc...may as well not be there. I'll focus on the lead judge commands, but that's about all I hear...I'll be vaguely aware that the crowd is making noise, but mostly I'll watch videos after and be like "oh cool, people were cheering for me."

5 reps is definitely cardio squats compared to all those singles I've been doing. It's kind of sad when I'm gasping for air after 5 whole squats in a row lol. 5. Pathetic

I'm surprisingly chill about the audience, they really don't bother me at all. Only awkward audience moment I've had was at my first meet when I accidentally locked eyes with some poor guy on the bleachers just as I started to deadlift. I couldn't change anything since I'd already started the lift, so I wound up staring the poor guy down. He looked really freaked out about it lol.

^^^Oh now I'm confused, itsagoodday, were you talking about more of a personal space issue with people being like right on top of you as you're lifting heavy ass weight, or more of a you don't like random people watching you type thing??

Just a personal space thing. Watching eh, I don't really care if people watch me. I just rarely, rarely have people that close to me when I'm squatting, like within half a mile. It doesn't bother me for bench or deadlift at all, go figure. I think squats I'm always just the most nervous about in general and I have to do a LOT of thinking about them, having a bunch of stuff going on near me is like sensory overload when I'm not used to it. Anyhoo. I tried using this approach in the weeks before my last meet (going upstairs and using a rack in a more chaotic location), and it did seem to help.

This morning at my gym, I was all confused! Couldn't understand WHY a few guys moved a ton of equipment to put a squat rack in the middle of the floor when it worked perfectly well where it was (they did put it all back). Reading this makes me think perhaps they are wanting to be more used to a little more chaos coming from all sides when they're lifting. Seems like an excellent notion, especially competing where there's lots of people, to just turn it all into "white noise" so you can just focus on your lifts and have no distractions.

I always like to think people have a method behind their madness. I try to, anyway, but it's not always the case

I wrote in red on the top of my left hand this morning... "GO LEFT!!!" I finally added in some single arm pulls and know full well if I didn't remind myself when it came time to do them, I'd do my strong side first and not end up getting as many reps on the other side.

Oh, that's a good idea! I'd need to write it on my left thigh or shoe though lol.

dang, girl. you've gotten stronger! nice squatting.

outfoxing yourself by switching things up is a really good way to prep for anything, not just a meet. <3 good work.

Thanks geek! Actually deciding it would be a good idea to start purposely mixing and matching the bars I use for benching, too. The bench bar at meets feels so different. I don't have access to any bench bars, but I can dig out some thicker and more awkward regular bars for sure.

[itsagoodday]

Tuesday 3/8 - Gym

Chest Day

BENCH
5x95
3x105
3x115
3x125
2x125

One of my rare evening training sessions, it's weird how everything feels so odd when you train at a completely different time of day than you're used to! Well, I said I wanted to work with a more awkward bar for benching and I definitely found one. I've dealt with this bar before and usually avoid it. It has 99cm between the rings, which is extraordinarily weird spacing (yes, I measured it once because I was curious lol). Powerlifting bars are 81cm between the rings and most bars you'll find in a gym are somewhere around there, and I think Olympic weightlifting bars are 91cm. 99cm is basically what the heck were they thinking width. So I was having a horrible time eyeballing an 81cm distance from a 99cm gap, I know I did some sets too wide and some too narrow, and some off-center because I didn't have any nearby landmarks to work with, and nothing ever felt quite right. Oh well. The good news is that Project Throw Me Out of My Comfort Zone for Bench Too went really, really well then

CLOSE GRIP BENCH
(2x) 8x95

Feet on bench, got some more reps in at this weight today, yay.

INCLINE BENCH
8x105
6x115
4x125

DB SKULL CRUSHERS
12x20's
10X25's
8x25's

SEATED MILITARY PRESS
6x65
4x75
2x80

Ergh. Haven't done these recently and left arm was lagging pretty badly. Time to work in some DB shoulder press to even that out, methinks.

BENT OVER LATERAL RAISE - superset with dips
12X15's
10x20's
8x25's

DIPS
(2x) 5xBW
2xBW

The bent overs were easy, the dips sucked lol. Hit the dirt hard on the last set.

BB Shrugs
10x185
8x195
6x205

Headed down to the basement to find some floor space to set up the bar, since it was so busy upstairs. While we have a ton of half racks, it was disheartening to see that the only cage in the building was being used by a girl who was doing dumbbell step ups. Given how busy it was and how many guys were squatting tonight (every rack being in use at the time) I'm sure one of them would have appreciated the cage, since it's the only thing we have with adjustable safeties. I just don't get the thought process that went into that decision. She also abandoned her stuff in there when she was done, and wound up leaving a bar with her plates on it in one of the other racks as well. Sigh.

Diet accountability...
3/6 1833
3/7 2631
3/8 2117

I'm going to win an award for inconsistency. My only excuse for Tuesday was that I was awake from 3am to midnight. How do people not eat more if they're awake more hours? I pretty much just wound up having a fourth meal because I was starving later in the day

[penny0527]

Long time no see. Impressive lifts!

[VO2Maxima]

It has 99cm between the rings, which is extraordinarily weird spacing (yes, I measured it once because I was curious lol). Powerlifting bars are 81cm between the rings and most bars you'll find in a gym are somewhere around there, and I think Olympic weightlifting bars are 91cm. 99cm is basically what the heck were they thinking width.

What are the 55lb Texas squat bars?? I couldn't figure out where to put my hands because I spaced them like I normally do (I eyeball from the inside of where the knurling starts), and my grip was all weird and I couldn't get my upper body tight. I guess I should probably learn to space using the rings rather than the inside of the knurling, huh?

[itsagoodday]

Wednesday 3/9 - Gym

Back Day

Taking advantage of gaining a whole day since my mom's surgery was postponed. This called for deadlifts

DEADLIFTS
8x135
5x185
3x240
3x255
5x270 AMRAP
1x295
1x310
1x320
(3x) 1x290
(6x) 1x275

Pretty good day for deads! Something was tugging in my right leg, not sure what was going on there. Probably need to foam roll that ankle again, which I forgot to do before I left for the gym. It keeps tightening up on me. Just the right one, of course

320 felt weirdly better than 310 and 295, so I sort of regretted not putting 325 on. Eh, maybe in the next week or two. For the back-off sets, eight singles at 290 was not going to happen, it just felt too heavy so I did just three singles and then dropped the weight back to 275. That actually let me play with something I've been meaning to try. I'm pretty happy with my deadlift, so I'm not looking to make any big changes to it. But I do sometimes play with little details, things that are so small I don't think most people would even notice a difference. Slight changes to angles, weight distribution, that kind of thing. Sometimes I strike gold, it's an improvement and I keep it. Sometimes I'm wasting my time, because it does nothing or makes things worse.

Anyway, I'm playing a little with the angle I'm holding my head when I start the lift. I'm hoping it might help me get the bar against my legs a little earlier in the lift, which is probably the biggest issue I have with my particular style of deadlifting. For the six reps @ 275, I did the first normally, changed my head angle for the next four by tucking my chin closer to my chest by varying degrees, then did the last normally. Actually kind of promising results. The best reps @ 275 were three of the experimental ones, but the worst rep was also an experimental one, where the bar basically never touched my legs at all and just free floated out in front of me until it slammed against my thighs at lockout. Yeah, that's like the opposite of what I'm trying to do lol. But the other three were good so I'll have to play with it again, and if it still looks promising I'll need to see what happens with heavier weights. Sometimes stuff that looks promising at more moderate weights doesn't hold up under maximal weights, and then it's not useful for my purposes

SNATCH GRIP DEADLIFTS
6x165
4x175
2x185

CLOSE GRIP LAT PULLDOWNS - palms facing me, superset with rows
10x80
8x90
6x100

CABLE ROWS
8x #7
6x #8
3x #9 - that got heavy fast lol

CHIN UPS
(3x) 2xBW

OK, technically it was like 1.8 reps each since the second one was coming up a little short, but still an improvement from last week.

CHIN UPS
(3x) 2xBW

Did another three sets, this time with a hold as high as I could get on the second rep and slow negative, and superset them with the pushups

WIDE GRIP PUSH UPS
(3x) 15xBW

Whoa, look at me doing 15 reps of something without dying. I'm so proud.

STRAIGHT BAR BICEP CURLS
6x60
5x60
2x70

Our curl bars are still nowhere to be found lol. Probably shouldn't have used the preloaded straight bars for this, as they go up in 10 lb jumps and I really, really needed a 65.

Gee, I'm doing pretty good for workout days this week! Should be working out at my friend's studio tomorrow, I'm due for a leg day but I may use and abuse him for spotting me on some heavier slingshot bench instead

[Todayisforme]

Thanks!! My mom kinda failed her pre-op lol. Heart rate and blood pressure were both sky high, which they think was from a drug reaction, so she's off that drug and we'll just monitor it. And they found she's got an infection (not uncommon with the hydronephrosis, I guess) so she'll be on antibiotics for the next week. So no surgery tomorrow, and tentatively rescheduled for next Wednesday instead. Ay yi yi

Are they going to run some screening tests before surgery to make sure the infection is not the cause rather then a symptom?

320 felt weirdly better than 310 and 295, so I sort of regretted not putting 325 on. Eh, maybe in the next week or two. For the back-off sets, eight singles at 290 was not going to happen, it just felt too heavy so I did just three singles and then dropped the weight back to 275. That actually let me play with something I've been meaning to try. I'm pretty happy with my deadlift, so I'm not looking to make any big changes to it. But I do sometimes play with little details, things that are so small I don't think most people would even notice a difference. Slight changes to angles, weight distribution, that kind of thing. Sometimes I strike gold, it's an improvement and I keep it. Sometimes I'm wasting my time, because it does nothing or makes things worse.

I have lifts that feel better heavier too... nothing like you're lifting, but there are some I don't even want to do if they are 5 or 10lbs below my "happy" weight.

Anyway, I'm playing a little with the angle I'm holding my head when I start the lift. I'm hoping it might help me get the bar against my legs a little earlier in the lift, which is probably the biggest issue I have with my particular style of deadlifting. For the six reps @ 275, I did the first normally, changed my head angle for the next four by tucking my chin closer to my chest by varying degrees, then did the last normally. Actually kind of promising results. The best reps @ 275 were three of the experimental ones, but the worst rep was also an experimental one, where the bar basically never touched my legs at all and just free floated out in front of me until it slammed against my thighs at lockout. Yeah, that's like the opposite of what I'm trying to do lol. But the other three were good so I'll have to play with it again, and if it still looks promising I'll need to see what happens with heavier weights. Sometimes stuff that looks promising at more moderate weights doesn't hold up under maximal weights, and then it's not useful for my purposes

I read something about this very thing yesterday! Has something to do with kinetic chain, because when your head position changes is can force a hip change without realizing it... hmmm... wish I book marked it now. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

WIDE GRIP PUSH UPS
(3x) 15xBW

Whoa, look at me doing 15 reps of something without dying. I'm so proud.

lol

[thehobbes]

DEADLIFTS
8x135
5x185
3x240
3x255
5x270 AMRAP
1x295
1x310
1x320
(3x) 1x290
(6x) 1x275

Standingovation.jpg that is some hard and heavy work right there, killed it!

Oh man, that sucks the surgery was postponed. Not sure how she's feeling as far as appetite in general but I would be beyond pissed having to fast for nothing! In all seriousness I hope she's feeling better soon and those numbers get back to normal range so the docs can do what they gotta do.