The Flywheel Effect.

[Raigs]

I love that you have the bamboo bar. It’s such a fun thing(never used it but it looks like it) probably felt that.

Nice manual labor as your warmup for the benching. Probably felt easy after all the labor

[CW47]

I love that you have the bamboo bar. It’s such a fun thing(never used it but it looks like it) probably felt that.

Nice manual labor as your warmup for the benching. Probably felt easy after all the labor

Yeah man, can't wait to fit the Bamboo Bar into my programming. I have my next 6 weeks already planned out without it, but for sure will add it in the following cycle. May even end up fitting it into this next one...we'll see.
I really wiped myself out. Woke up yesterday feeling like crap. Had a headache that lasted all day. I think I just got too dehydrated, and it took me a full day to recover. I should know better. Anyway, I felt great today. Got in my workout that I was supposed to do yesterday.


September 24, 2020

Dynamic Lower - Paused Squat
145 pounds - 10 sets x 2 reps
I really struggle with these, which means they're probably really good for me. This in no way can be considered 'Speed Work', the weight move super slow on some of the reps. I'm really bad at the bottom of the squat. My primary focus was on keeping my weight back. Also working on keeping my weight evenly balanced side to side (tendency is to slide my hips to the left). Had some good reps and some poor ones. It's a work in progress.

Dynamic Lower - Deficit Conventional Deadlift
185 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps
Feeling much more comfortable and confident with the deadlifts. My back feels great. I'm also super pumped because I've forever been fighting the same issue I mentioned on squats of getting my weight too far forward. Well, I picked up on something when I did my max effort Sumo Deadlift last time, and tested it out today on this lift, and it made a world of difference. It's the first time I can remember watching video of myself on a deadlift and seeing my shoulders directly above the bar for the full rep. It felt fantastic. I think I've finally got that particular issues fixed for this lift. I did notice that I struggled to keep good form when doing a touch and go. A quick reset between reps worked excellently. I also need to figure out a new setup routine, because the old one was part of the problem. I'll try some different approaches and see what works over time.

Good Morning
95 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
I had Good Mornings planned once per week for this entire block (this is the final week of the block). Today was the first time I felt my back was up to the task of doing them. This is a lift I don't have much experience with. All things considered, it definitely made sense to start off light and focus on the movement, so that's what I did. I got what I wanted out of it. It's a shame that I wasn't able to do this consistently throughout this block, but I'll definitely add it in again in the future.

Kept it to just these 3 lifts today, as I got started super late this evening, and my energy was a bit low by the end again. Rest day tomorrow, and then I'll be back at it on Saturday.

[CW47]

September 26, 2020

Max Bench - 2 Board Bench Press
170 pounds x 1 rep
Failed attempt at 175 can also be seen in the video at the end. Going in, I thought 175 might be doable. Just couldn't get it moving fast enough at the beginning. Really happy with the 170 though. The hole spacing gets to be a problem for me once the weight gets up to about 160. You can see in both attempts on the video that I struggled a bit to unrack. It throws off my setup big time, forcing me more to the back of my shoulders than on my traps. It's for sure making it harder for me to hit the reps. The next lowest hole is 4 inches lower, which isn't going to work either. Not the end of the world, but annoying for sure.

Pullup
Bodyweight - 5 sets x 5 reps
Changed to this instead of the 3x10 I've been doing. Went as fast as possible on the way up, and did a 3-5 second descent. Did holds at the top for a few reps too. The mind muscle connection (or whatever it it's supposed to be called) was much better with this approach. Reps were definitely higher quality even though I only did 25 compared to 30 the other way.

Seated Military Press
72.5 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Killed it. I believe this has to be the longer streak of progression without stalling I've ever had on this lift. This felt easier than the 70 pounds I did last week. Gonna keep on with the slow increases.

Pendlay Row
95 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
First time doing any barbell rows in about a month and a half. Started out light. Lower back held up great, and the reps felt great.

Tricep Dumbbell Overhead Extension
20 pounds (per hand) - 3 sets x 10 reps

Decline Crunch
50 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps

Video shows 2 Max Bench attempts, and the second set of shoulder presses.

[CW47]

September 27, 2020

Max Effort Lower - Rack Pull
305 pounds x 3 reps
Went with a 3 rep max today. I'm still uneasy really letting it rip. I can see it in the video too - I look tentative. Just need to build some confidence over time that my body will hold up. Even at a 3 rep max I left a lot in the tank. Pretty sure I could've done another 40-50 pounds for a triple, but I'll take this for now.

Barbell Hack Squat
150 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Barbell Split Squat
65 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Kroc Row
60 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps


Video shows the Rack Pulls, and the second set of Hack Squats.



I remembered that I had some extra 3/4 inch wood from when I put together my platform. I should be able to use it to raise up the bench when doing bench press. I gave it a trial run and it definitely made it easier to clear the hooks on the unrack. Looking forward to testing it out with more weight on the bar.

[Raigs]

Nice sessions! Looks like you are seeing some nice gains!!!

[CW47]

Nice sessions! Looks like you are seeing some nice gains!!!

Sure seems that way.
Hard to be completely sure because I'm going a minimum of 6 weeks before repeating a lift. Next week I'll be doing a standard bench press for the first time in 6 weeks, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Totally unrelated - I just realized I've been using the wrong setting when benching with a block. I thought I was using a 2 board, but it turns out it was actually a 1 board. Why they start out at 1/2 instead of 1, I have no idea. That's what threw me off.

[Raigs]

I’ve never benched with boards. I have no idea what you should be doing. But it’s cool to see someone using them so I have some knowledge if I decide to go there

[400Lb Gorilla]

I have also never done a boarded bench lol. I am not sure if I asked this already but are you using a powerlifting based program? Only reason I ask is it is usually geared(as in shirted not drugs) powerlifters that I usually see using board presses because that tends to be where their bench shirts start doing less. Other than that I have seen a few guys use them to test a certain range of motion in their bench

Rack pulls looked very solid. And I am actually jealous of how easy you made the hack squats look. All I have ever managed to do with those is scrape skin off the back of my lower shins... and I wasn't even using 150 pounds to do it

[CW47]

My program isn't really based on anything. I'm just making this stuff up as I go.
I've been following strict programming ever since I started lifting. I figured it's probably about time I figure out what works for me, so I'm just trying all kinds of things to see how they work for me. I'm personally using a board press to hopefully improve strength at my stalling point (which is about 2-3 inches off my chest). I'm learning as I go though, and now realize that the way I've been using it so far is not really good. I did it primarily with close grip and high reps. This has me using weights that are probably far too light to actually help my sticking point. But like I said, learning as I go.

Barbell Hack Squats are an interesting animal. Hard to tame, for sure. I first tried them about 2 years ago, and just about fell over. It took me several weeks of doing them to even be able to keep both feet planted in place throughout the lift. I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of them, so didn't touch them again until recently (didn't have a lot of options when I was lifting at home without a rack). I've not gotten relatively comfortable with them. They still get a bit better each time. But yeah, they feel very weird. No doubt about that. I'm a fan of them. They work my quads more than anything else I'm doing right now.


September 29, 2020
Down to the final 2 workouts of my first 6 week block (today and tomorrow). Really happy with the progress so far, and I'm learning a lot about what works and what doesn't. I already had my next 6 weeks programmed, and I'll be mostly sticking with what I planned initially. That'll give me 3 months of experience, and put me in a really good position to plan better blocks as I go along. I also have a lot of equipment I didn't have when I wrote this programming, so it'll fun to mix in some more variety (bamboo bar, chains, belt squat, etc.)

Dynamic Bench - Bench Press
Mini Band + 95 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps
Felt great today. The reps moved faster than they did last week, which is good since I added 5 pounds this week. Elevating the bench 3/4 inch helped. I'm going to need to make adjustments according to my grip. With wider grip I may need to remove the boards underneath the bench and lower the hooks 4 inches. Grip width makes a huge difference. Everything worked great today.

Close Grip Bench Press - 2 Board
100 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
As I mentioned above, this is definitely not a great way to implement a board press. I really like the idea of it, but need to be more careful about how I incorporate it. In the future I'll do it with more of a conventional grip width and heavier weights (either max effort stuff or 6-8 rep sets at most).

Face Pull
Mini Band - 3 sets x 20 reps

Incline Skull Crusher
65 pounds - 1 set x 15 reps / 62.5 - 2 x 15
Did 60 pounds last week, and planned to do 65 this week. I just barely eeked out the reps on the first set though, and decided to reduce the weight slightly. I paid for the fractional plates...why not make use of them, right?

Hammer Curl
35 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
I didn't even think about this until I was on the final set, but this lift made me realize that I'm actually making really good progress. I know...they're curls. But the thing is, last time I incorporated DB curls into my programming, I struggled to do a couple sets of 6 at this weight. Today I did sets of 12.

Situp
10 pounds - 3 sets x 25 reps
These felt great. I remember a couple months after the lockdown began, I started doing some bodyweight stuff at home - situps, pushups, squats. I remember about a week in I did 20 situps and thought I was gonna die, lol. The 3 sets of 25 with bodyweight plus 10 pounds barely affected me at all.

I don't think I ever mentioned it, but I ended up buying another set of 45's and 25's, and got them delivered last week. I should be good on weights for quite a while now - I have close to 500 pounds of weights now I think, and can't lift anything close to that right now. Today I receive part of another recent purchase. I got some adjustable metal plyo boxes from Titan. They adjust from 12 to 24 inches. I mainly got them so that I can do box squats at various heights, and to use them for belt squats. I ordered 2 and got the first one today. It seems to be pretty good quality. It had just a really slight wobble to it when I tested it out initially, but I may not have had the legs slotted fully into place. Looking forward to putting these things to use.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Nice ^^^ You may also be able to use those for block pulls, which are easier on your equipment than rack pulls lol.

Great job on the benchpress progress. Also admiring fractional plates. I have never seen a set IRL. They would definitely seem like they would be useful for some of the isolation movement like skulls and curls. A 5 pound jump can have 20 pound effects on those lifts

[CW47]

Nice ^^^ You may also be able to use those for block pulls, which are easier on your equipment than rack pulls lol.

Great job on the benchpress progress. Also admiring fractional plates. I have never seen a set IRL. They would definitely seem like they would be useful for some of the isolation movement like skulls and curls. A 5 pound jump can have 20 pound effects on those lifts

Yeah, no kidding. The 2.5 pound difference on skull crushers honestly felt like 10. And good call on the block pulls. Definitely need to give that a try. They are designed to hold 300 pounds each, so should work well.

September 30, 2020
Last day of September. Last day of my cycle. Got in some good work.

Dynamic Lower - Paused Squat
135 pounds - 8 sets x 2 reps
I was really unhappy with how my paused squats looked last week, so I lowered the weight and focused on getting the movement right. It was an improvement over last week for sure, but still not what I'd call good. My first rep of each set was actually pretty decent, but the second rep was significantly worse. Typically losing tightness and/or balance at the bottom of the lift, and having the weight shift forward noticeably. Not sure why, but I'll keep working on it.

Dynamic Lower - Deficit Conventional Deadlift
195 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps
These felt great today. The weight felt light. I filmed most of the sets, and all but 1 or 2 reps looked really good (don't have time to upload video today though). I can feel myself getting out of position marginally (by just tiny amounts here and there). Guess it's good that I can feel it as soon as I'm out of position. Now just need to keep tightening up the movement pattern.

Good Morning
95 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps / 115 - 3 x 6
Started out with the same weight I used last week. It felt very light, so I increased for the final 3 sets.


I'll have a couple of well needed off days now. I'm going to be starting Kung Fu classes on Friday. Never done any kind of martial arts, and always had an interest in it. My step son wanted to take lessons, but didn't want to do it alone, so we'll be doing them together. Should be a ton of fun.

Having a baby shower on Saturday. We're hosting it, so I still have things to do to prepare, and will be quite busy over the next couple of days. Not sure if I'll be able to get my scheduled workout in on Saturday with the party, but not the end of the world if it ends up getting pushed back a day. All the workouts will get done one way or another. Next workout has me doing a standard bench press as my max effort lift. I haven't done it since 6 weeks ago, on the first week of the block I just finished. Will be interesting to see if I'm able to better the 160 I did then. It's really my first chance to get a direct apples to apples comparison to measure my progress. Looking forward to that.

[Raigs]

Nice workout session. I respect that you lowered the weight to get the form down. That’s a hard thing to do when you know you can move heavier weight.

Enjoy the baby shower special occasions call for some good food and booze.

[CW47]

Nice workout session. I respect that you lowered the weight to get the form down. That’s a hard thing to do when you know you can move heavier weight.

Enjoy the baby shower special occasions call for some good food and booze.

Thank you! Baby shower was good. Enjoyed the time with family and friends, especially since we've not seen them much this year.

October 3, 2020
I was stuffed full of food, and tired from entertaining and then cleaning up afterward. Wasn't feeling 100%, that's for sure. Still managed a decent workout.

Max Bench - Bench Press
165 pounds x 1 rep
Improved on my max from 6 weeks ago, which was 160. Gave 170 a pretty good run too, but it stalled out just under half way up. I never really felt comfortable today, so I'm super happy with the PR.

Pushup
Bodyweight + Mini Band - 5 sets x 5 reps

Pendlay Row
105 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Kneeling Overhead Press
65 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Never seen anyone do this before, but figured it's worth a try. It felt surprisingly similar to a normal standing OHP. This is a good option for me since my ceiling is too low to do a normal OHP.

Tricep Kickbacks
15 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Planks
Bodyweight - 3 sets x 1 minute


Video includes the 165 and 170 pounds sets of bench, and a set of kneeling OHP.



I am wore out. Tomorrow is max effort squat day. I'll see if I can better the 205 I did 2 weeks ago.

[CW47]

October 4, 2020

Max Effort Lower - Squat
215 pounds x 1 rep
Well this was an adventure... I did a crap load of squat reps today. Wamed up slowly, working on grooving the movement. Started out a little tight, so the extra reps helped, and the weight was flying up as I got to 185 and 205. Was feeling really confident so I jumped to 215 (my max last time I tested was 205). I failed miserably at 215. Didn't want to settle for tying my last max, so I took a short rest, reset to 135 pounds and worked my way back up. Hit the 205 again relatively easily. Hit 210, bar still moving quickly. Then made 215. As I watched the video though, I realized I was an inch or two short of my usual depth. Can't accept that as a PR, so I got back under the bar and did it again, this time with acceptable depth.
Best part of the day for me was that my form mostly held up, even at top weight. The reps at 210 and 215 can be seen in the video below. The 215 rep did get away from me a little bit. You can see that the bar drifts forward and I have to correct it. If I can eliminate the errors like that, I'm sure I can instantly add another 10 pounds. I'm feeling pretty confident I'll probably hit 225 in my next cycle.

Seated Good Morning
135 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
The more I do these seated, the less I like them. I just feel very restricted in the movement. But anyway, it's definitely safer on my lower back, and will be a good way to continue building up strength in that area with less risk.

Chinup
Bodyweight x 10 reps / 10 reps / 9 reps

Rack Pull
225 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Felt much more comfortable doing these today. Lockout looked and felt really good, whereas last week I wasn't really locking out fully.

Brazilian Split Squat
20 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps


Video shows Squat reps of 210 & 215 pounds:

[daawhitty]

Hey it’s been a while it will be fun checking in on how you’re training has been doing pal.. Home gym looks awesome..

[CW47]

Hey it’s been a while it will be fun checking in on how you’re training has been doing pal.. Home gym looks awesome..

Hey man! Good to see you around. I just checked your log last week to see if you had posted anything recently, lol.

[Raigs]

Nice squat session so many reps.

Nice work on lifting after you were stuffed full of food. Bet it was good fuel to get you going once you started

[CW47]

Nice squat session so many reps.

Nice work on lifting after you were stuffed full of food. Bet it was good fuel to get you going once you started

Yeah, for sure. It was a rough start, but the extra calories definitely helped get me through the session. A day of recovery now...I definitely need it.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Damn you buried the hell out of the 215 lol. Strong back and forth progression on the hunt for annew PR. I very rarely have any luck going back and coming back to a missed lift.

You missed 215
Went back
Worked up to and hit 215
Didnt like the depth(I know these feels)
Hit 215 again to make sure you could count it and ended up smashing a new PR twice

The fact that you went on to goodmornings, chinups, rack pulls, and another squat variation is definitely going to make this a workout you can look back at later and go "yep that one definitely made me stronger"

[CW47]

Damn you buried the hell out of the 215 lol. Strong back and forth progression on the hunt for annew PR. I very rarely have any luck going back and coming back to a missed lift.
The fact that you went on to goodmornings, chinups, rack pulls, and another squat variation is definitely going to make this a workout you can look back at later and go "yep that one definitely made me stronger"

For sure that's a workout I'll remember. Don't think I've ever retried a missed PR before. The way the bar was moving, I knew 100% I had it in me though as long as I didn't totally F up the lift. Probably had another 10 pounds in me, but it can wait.


October 6, 2020

Dynamic Bench - JM Press
75 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps
Started out maybe a little light, wanting to work on the movement since I was doing it incorrectly previously. It felt great. Will increase to 85 next week.

Dumbbell Bench Press
40's - 3 sets x 12 reps
Loooong time since I've done these (probably over a year). The first set felt odd, but I was back in the groove on the next 2 sets. Will increase to 45's next week.

Floor Press with Fat Grips
95 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Was literally my first time every doing this lift. I tried it once before I got my rack, but I couldn't make it work at all. REALLY like the way these feel. We'll see how I progress as this cycle goes on, and how much it helps my bench press, but I have a feeling this lift will be something I return to pretty regularly.

Barbell Shrug
205 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Tricep Extension
Mini Band - 3 sets x 15 reps
Of all the times for this to happen, my calves started cramping up during these, lmao.
Did them basically like this:


Hanging Leg Raise
Bodyweight - 10 reps / 7 reps / 7 reps
These are a challenge since I cant straighten my legs. I have knees bent at the bottom, swing them in front of me and then extend my knees as I lift my toes toward the bar. Still an effective lift though, for sure.

This workout is going to absolutely be a tricep killer in the next 2 weeks as I increase weights.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Good work on the push workout.
Why did you choose JM press for dynamic work? Nothing wrong with that choice, but you are the first person I have seen that does them over the other alternatives.

Love to see the addition of floor presses in everyone's routine. They hit hard and dont require as much weight to do it

[CW47]

Good work on the push workout.
Why did you choose JM press for dynamic work? Nothing wrong with that choice, but you are the first person I have seen that does them over the other alternatives.

Love to see the addition of floor presses in everyone's routine. They hit hard and dont require as much weight to do it

Honestly...it's because I don't know what the hell I'm doing, lol. I realized that just as I was about to do them. Thought to myself...why do I have JM Press as the dynamic movement and floor press as assistance work? - it should probably be the other way around.

If I think back to when I wrote up the programming (almost 2 months ago now), I think I had just watched a video with JM where he talked about the fact that he didn't do speed work and didn't believe in it. So I was probably thinking I'd do the same thing and just do these at a normal tempo and leave out the speed work. That's basically what I ended up doing. Even though they're listed as the Dynamic work for the day, I didn't do them with any real speed. And I don't think they'd be good as speed work at all, it's just not what they're designed for, and even if they were done with speed I don't see that helping the speed of the standard bench press.

So like I said a while back, I'm basically taking these first two cycles and trying a bunch of random stuff, and then I'll take what I've learned (which is quite a lot already) and apply it to my future cycles.

[CW47]

September 30, 2020
Today was one of those days where the list of things to do ran long and time ran short, and so my workout ran short as well. Did only the two main lifts of the day.

Dynamic Lower - 12 inch Box Squat
115 pounds (55% of 1RM) - 12 sets x 2 reps
Not used to squatting this to a box this low, but the reps were really solid after the first set.

Dynamic Lower - Sumo Deadlift
215 pounds (70% of 1RM) - 12 sets x 2 reps
Felt good. Moved good. Looked good.

No video again, because no time.
Rest day tomorrow. I'll be out of town this weekend. May be able to get a workout in Friday evening after Kung Fu class. May be able to get a workout in Sunday evening. We'll see.

[Raigs]

I like the fact you admit you don’t know what your doing. I don’t think many of us do. But you know it and are going to learn so much that way! 🤜

Also Kung fu??? Tell us more

[CW47]

I like the fact you admit you don’t know what your doing. I don’t think many of us do. But you know it and are going to learn so much that way! 🤜
Also Kung fu??? Tell us more

I spent 4 years running programs written by other people. I made barely any progress and learned enough to delude myself into thinking I understood programming. I'm not interested in doing that anymore. I'm really just trying to look at programming with fresh eyes, and learn through experience. Embracing the Zen concept of 'Beginners Mind'.

My 10 year old step son has mentioned wanting to do martial arts many times over the years. They have a Kung Fu class that's run through the school district, and he wanted to do it, but didn't want to do it alone. In the class description there was a comment that parents didn't need to sit and watch - they could participate too. So I signed up with him. We got his cousin (who's the same age as him) to join also, so the 3 of us are doing the class together. We had the second class tonight. We learned our first 'form', which is essentially just a series of movements performed in a specific pattern. It's been a lot of fun so far.


October 9, 2020

Max Bench - 60 Degree Incline Bench Press
140 pounds x 1 rep
Last cycle, I did a 45 degree incline press and maxed out at 135, so 140 was really good here with a steeper incline. I was sooooo close to hitting 145. I actually tried it twice because I was so close I swore I could do it. Got stuck at exactly the same spot on the second attempt. It seems like my sticking point has moved. It's always been about 2-3 inches off my chest. The two attempts at 145 got well beyond that, but I just couldn't lock them out. Interesting... Could be that the board presses I did last cycle helped make me stronger where my sticking point had been. Anyway, I'm making really good progress on the pressing exercises.

Pushup
Bodyweight + Mini Band - 5 sets x 6 reps
Added 1 rep to each set from last week.

Pendlay Row
115 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Kneeling Overhead Press
70 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
The last 5 reps were a grind, but got them all in.

Tricep Kickbacks
17.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Planks
Bodyweight - 3 sets x 1 minute 10 seconds
Planks always suck. These were extra sucky. About halfway through the second set I started feeling like my abs were going to cramp up. Somehow they never did, but it sure was uncomfortable.


Video shows the Incline sets of 140 and the second attempt at 145:

[400Lb Gorilla]

damn that 145 was soooooo close. Still solid work and congrats on the 140! Watch how steep you make that incline though. The higher up you go the more focus it shifts to your shoulders.

lol it is funny that you are doing kneeling overhead presses. I just recommended them to someone. Great alternative if you have a bum knee or a short ceiling.

[Raigs]

Yeah I hear you. Following someone’s program sucks if you don’t know why your doing it and why your pairing the movements. I think it takes years.

That’s pretty neat the Kung fu place is mixed. That definitely a different workout and will change it up.

[CW47]

damn that 145 was soooooo close. Still solid work and congrats on the 140! Watch how steep you make that incline though. The higher up you go the more focus it shifts to your shoulders.

lol it is funny that you are doing kneeling overhead presses. I just recommended them to someone. Great alternative if you have a bum knee or a short ceiling.

Will do. The 60 degree incline is probably something I won't do more than about once every 3 months or so. It's just mixed in as on of many pressing variations. And yeah, then kneeling OHP works surprisingly well. In some ways, at least initially, it's almost more difficult than standing. It's probably easier to cheat a bit when standing. Really liking it so far.

Yeah I hear you. Following someone’s program sucks if you don’t know why your doing it and why your pairing the movements. I think it takes years.

That’s pretty neat the Kung fu place is mixed. That definitely a different workout and will change it up.

It's definitely been a long learning process already, and I still have much to learn. The Kung Fu is has been a blast so far. Part of me just wants to sit and watch the youngsters (just because it's so entertaining), but I'm having a great time participating. And the practice time at home is a good opportunity to spend time together doing something we both enjoy.

[CW47]

October 11, 2020

Max Effort Lower - Conventional Deadlift w/Snatch Grip
305 pounds x 1 rep
Snatch grip is weird. It's not really surprising since I've never done it before. Could definitely feel the difference in what muscles it's working though, and I can see the benefit of doing them. It's probably a lift I should keep in my rotation for a while to help build up the muscles in my upper back. This for sure wasn't a true max lift, but I was getting flashbacks to the injury I had a while back. I'll need to throw caution to the wind at some point and trust my body will hold up, but for the next month or so I'm happy to play it safe. My form held up pretty darn well. I was trying to keep it as tight as possible, and the weight ended up moving pretty slow as a result, but it felt really good.

Seated Good Morning
140 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
Liking these less and less as I go on. I just can't get the range of motion that I want. Once I through with them this time around, I probably won't be adding them back in again any time soon.

Chinup
Bodyweight - 3 sets x 10 reps

Rack Pull
235 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Pretty happy with how this is progressing. In the future, I'll most likely stick to lower rep ranges. I started to get fatigued near the end of the sets and lose tightness, which is not exactly a recipe for success on this particular lift.

Brazilian Split Squat
20 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
I listed the weight as 20 pounds last week, but I believe it was actually 15, so the 20 this week was a whopping 5 pound increase.

Video shows the 305 deadlift and the second set of rack pulls. The audio is out of sync with the video for some reason.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Honestly...it's because I don't know what the hell I'm doing, lol. I realized that just as I was about to do them. Thought to myself...why do I have JM Press as the dynamic movement and floor press as assistance work? - it should probably be the other way around.

If I think back to when I wrote up the programming (almost 2 months ago now), I think I had just watched a video with JM where he talked about the fact that he didn't do speed work and didn't believe in it. So I was probably thinking I'd do the same thing and just do these at a normal tempo and leave out the speed work. That's basically what I ended up doing. Even though they're listed as the Dynamic work for the day, I didn't do them with any real speed. And I don't think they'd be good as speed work at all, it's just not what they're designed for, and even if they were done with speed I don't see that helping the speed of the standard bench press.

So like I said a while back, I'm basically taking these first two cycles and trying a bunch of random stuff, and then I'll take what I've learned (which is quite a lot already) and apply it to my future cycles.

I missed this post entirely earlier

Anyway, as JRock said it is a good thing when you realize you are not quite "in the know" about why some things are paired up or even in a program entirely. Blakely does seem to not like speed work.... and it works for him. If you think that is where it is at for you, then keep going with that in mind. There are definitely worse powerlifters out there to take advice from lol. Blakely is very intelligent in how he sets his program up.

I like speed work because I am able to get some of the heavy weight benefits without actually having to move the heavy weight through the entire range of motion. But speed work is most definitely not a final answer. It is just another tool to use as you see fit.

I do like the addition of Kung Fu to your repertoire of physical activities. There is nothing better for conditioning, flexibility, mobility, and endurance than the martial arts. And Kung Fu is definitely one of the martial arts that requires all of these abilities. IIRC, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but Kung Fu is a very throw oriented art form... requiring a lot of moves that use your opponents weight and momentum against him.