The Flywheel Effect.

[CW47]

May 20, 2021 - Max Upper

Incline Bench Press - 45 Degree: 155 pounds x 1 [PR]
Another 5 pound PR. I actually started this workout yesterday, worked up to within 5 pounds of my previous PR, had to step away to take care of the baby, and next thing I knew it was 2 hours later and I had to get ready to go to bed, lmao. So started fresh today and got the whole workout in. Form is improving on this lift. Still not great, but improving. I did a little better at controlling the weight at the bottom. Still need to work on it though.

Seated Overhead Press: 85 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
Did these without any back support, and oh my did that make a big difference. I did 85 pounds last week and it felt about 15 pounds heavier this week without the back support. I'm definitely going to continue doing it this way. It's much closer to a true Overhead Press, and required me to use more of the stabilizer muscles in my back and core, which will have more carry over to the other lifts I'm doing. It was actually harder than an overhead press because I didn't have my feet legs helping me get momentum off the bottom and maintain balance throughout the lift.

Triceps Pushdown: Mini Band - 3 set x 20 reps
Biceps Curl: Mini Band - 3 set x 15 reps


Video shows the Incline Bench Press PR:

[ECGordyn]

Oh yeah! Was still feeling the effect a little bit today.


Thank you man! I truly appreciate that.

I'm sure nobody realizes this because we usually don't go back to read the first post of a log, but consistency was the primary goal I set for myself when I started this log. "The Flywheel Effect" comes from a business book called 'Good to Great', and was meant to describe what I hoped to achieve here.

"Picture a huge, heavy flywheel—a massive metal disk mounted horizontally on an axle, about 30 feet in diameter, 2 feet thick, and weighing about 5,000 pounds. Now imagine that your task is to get the flywheel rotating on the axle as fast and long as possible. Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward, moving almost imperceptibly at first. You keep pushing and, after two or three hours of persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster, and with continued great effort, you move it around a second rotation. You keep pushing in a consistent direction. Three turns ... four ... five ... six ... the flywheel builds up speed ... seven ... eight ... you keep pushing ... nine ... ten ... it builds momentum ... eleven ... twelve ... moving faster with each turn ... twenty ... thirty ... fifty ... a hundred.

Then, at some point—breakthrough! The momentum of the thing kicks in in your favor, hurling the flywheel forward, turn after turn ... whoosh! ... its own heavy weight working for you. You’re pushing no harder than during the first rotation, but the flywheel goes faster and faster. Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort. A thousand times faster, then ten thousand, then a hundred thousand. The huge heavy disk flies forward, with almost unstoppable momentum.

Now suppose someone came along and asked, “What was the one big push that caused this thing to go so fast?” You wouldn’t be able to answer; it’s just a nonsensical question. Was it the first push? The second? The fifth? The hundredth? No! It was all of them added together in an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction."

I had actually read your first post and it's an excellent theme. Didn't know the source tho. Even consistency has to be sustained. Every once in a while the flywheel needs another nudge at the right intensity. Cool to see you've got all this support, CW, keep goin!

[Filmbuff81]

Great job and I’d say that was a better controlled effort all around.

You’re going for new PRs so there’s always an element that can be improved, but grinding through is what a PR lift is all about.

[CW47]

I had actually read your first post and it's an excellent theme. Didn't know the source tho. Even consistency has to be sustained. Every once in a while the flywheel needs another nudge at the right intensity. Cool to see you've got all this support, CW, keep goin!

Thank you sir! Very cool that you had read the first post.
And yes, the Flywheel Effect isn't a perfect recipe for success in weight training, but is for sure an important element that needs to be there. I truly appreciate the support I get here. As silly as it sounds, knowing that people will read about my workouts is a motivating factor for me to get them in consistently.

Great job and I’d say that was a better controlled effort all around.

You’re going for new PRs so there’s always an element that can be improved, but grinding through is what a PR lift is all about.

Yeah, for sure! And the fact that a lot of my reps on some of these exercises are near failure means that it's going to take me longer to really get them locked in to where they should be. It's definitely one of the major downsides of my style of training. But as long as I'm continually making progress it's all good.


Had a rough few training days recently. Been short of sleep AND training time. My partner is back to work again, which has meant that I'm pretty much always watching the little guy alone whenever I'm home (she works evenings and weekends). I'll figure out some way to make it work, but just haven't adjusted well so far.

April 23, 2021 - Dynamic Lower
16 inch Box Squat [speed]: 170 pounds - 10 sets x 2 reps
Was going through these far too quickly. Wasn't deliberate enough and it resulted in poor bracing and inconsistent movement patterns. Even though I technically got all the reps in, they really shouldn't even count because they for sure weren't good reps. Didn't bother trying to fit in the other exercises because they would have been rushed and done lazily as well. Figured I'm better off saving them until I can do them right.

April 24, 2021 - Dynamic Upper
Bench Press: 160 pounds x 2/3/3/3/3/3
Was supposed to be a 6x6, but I obviously didn't even get close to that. Interesting how a 5 pound increase sends me from 6 reps per set to 3. First set was with a wider grip, which was a bad idea, lol. I'm sure my overall tiredness didn't help at all. I knew I was pretty much at my limit for 6x6 though, and will reset the weight and change to 8x8 starting next week.

Paused Bench Press - Wide Grip: 140 pounds - 5 reps x 5 sets
Not bad here. Upper back weakness is proving to be my biggest limiting factor on Bench right now. This helps target that (and also makes it painfully obvious how weak it is). The wider grip work will continue to be a point of focus for me for quite a while I think.

[CW47]

May 25, 2021 - Max Lower
I'm keeping workout short and focused right now, as that seems to be my best approach for getting the work in. I will play around with reducing rest days since the overall daily workload is lighter. We'll see how that works out.

Squat w/Chains: 225 pounds + 4 Chains (68 pounds) x 1 rep / 245 + 4 Chains x FAIL
Made a miscalculation here. 225 went up without too much issue despite the fact that I got off balance and leaned forward too much. Thought I had another 20 pounds in me if I could maintain tightness out of the bottom. I mostly accomplished that, but still didn't get close to completing the rep at 245. I've just started using squat shoes again, and it's helping at the bottom of the lift, but also unfortunately contributes to my tendency to pitch forward out of the hole. I'm working on improving this by focusing on keeping my back tight throughout, and working my elbows more under the bar. Baby steps. I also noticed when just watching the video back that I need to set a higher focus point for my eyes. It appears as if I'm looking straight down at my feet. Picking out a higher focus point should help somewhat as well. Even though I only matched my previous PR, it was considerably easier than last time I did it.

Block Pull - 3 inch: 310 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
I looked at the wrong week when checking to see what I had done last. So I ended up repeating the same weight I did last week. Funny, because as I was doing it I felt like I should've increased to 315 instead because it felt too easy. Progress is being made.


Video of the Squat work:

[CW47]

May 31, 2021 - Max Upper
Can't remember the last time I was able to actually fit in a full workout. Actually, I can't even recall the last time I got through all the sets and reps of 1 exercise without being interrupted. Just doing the best I can for now.

Incline Bench Press - 30 Degree: 165 pounds x 1 [PR]
Really happy with this 5 pound PR. It's the first time I've maintained some degree of control at the bottom of an incline press. It turned into a grinder, but I was able to push through it.

Seated Overhead Press: 85 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps


Here's video of the Incline Press:

[Filmbuff81]

Great job on the lift. Definitely looked like you had full control.

Way to go, doing what you can do under less than ideal conditions.

[Raigs]

Nice work on the incline press PR! Glad your still getting time to lift

[CW47]

Great job on the lift. Definitely looked like you had full control.

Way to go, doing what you can do under less than ideal conditions.

Yeah, it felt really good.

Nice work on the incline press PR! Glad your still getting time to lift

Thank you.
Just barely getting time to lift, lol.


June 1, 2021 - Dynamic Lower
I've been unable to get speed work done correctly because of constant interruptions. It's pretty counterproductive to do it with multiple long breaks between sets, so I'm taking a different approach for a while. Going to focus more on getting in volume in the 3-5 rep range. I'll also mix in some high rep/amrap sets as well. All of my workouts are going to be very minimalistic for now, doing only 1 or 2 exercises in each. This will allow me to choose exercises that I think will give me the most value, and really push them hard.

Pin Squat:
145 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps
95 pounds - 1 set x 15 reps
Still struggling a little bit with this lift, though it's getting better each time. You'll see in the video below that I got out of balance on a couple of the reps, and lost tightness on a few as well. I could've done a few more at 95 pounds probably, but I'm not at all acclimated to higher rep sets, so was a little conservative on how far I pushed it. Legs still felt like jello though, lol.

Here's video of the 3rd set of 5:

[CW47]

June 2, 2021 - Dynamic Upper

Bench Press: 120 pounds 8 sets x 8 reps
Even though the weight was low, this pretty much wrecked me. Not at all used to doing this much volume (which is exactly the reason for doing this in the first place). Overall, the reps were pretty tight and consistent. Probably some of the best benching I've done. The high number of reps helped me get in a groove. The thought of doing a 10x10 when this eventually plateaus is scaring me, lmao!

Paused Bench Press - Wide Grip: 145 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps
I had been doing this for 5x5, but that wasn't happening after doing an 8x8. Thought I'd do a 3x5, but that idea went bye bye after the first 3 reps. Still was able to keep the reps to a pretty high quality here. It was a very good benching day all around.

[CW47]

June 5, 2021 - Max Lower

Deficit Deadlift - 3 inches: 345 pounds x 1 rep [PR]
20 pound PR, and it went up easily. Was probably around an 8.5 RPE. Only issue was with the belt. I had to loosen it 2 notches from where I normally have it to be able to get down deep enough. It still wasn't really enough, and I ended up getting forward on my toes too much as a result. I almost feel like I'm better off without the belt on this lift.

Front Squat: 125 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps
Started out with the same weight I ended on last time I did front squats. It was relatively easy. I shouldn't have any problem increasing to 135 next week.


Video shows the Deficit Deadlift:

[CW47]

June 6, 2021 - Max Upper

Bench Press: 165 pounds + 2 Chains (37.2 pounds) x 1 rep [PR]
This turned into a major grind. 155 went up easily, and I was expecting this to be about a 9 RPE, but it was definitely a 10. Part of the issue was the setup, which wasn't near as tight as I wanted it to be on the PR attempt. My left hip started cramping up during the setup initially. I had to reset and start again, and wasn't able to get into the best position. In the video, I included the rep at 155 to show the difference in the stability of the setup.

Larsen Press: 125 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Only done these for 5x5 previously. I'm going to try out higher reps for a while. Hypothetically, it should help with building up the stabilizer muscles, so I think it makes sense. We'll see how it works...

[Filmbuff81]

PR train continues along.

Great work as always.

[CW47]

PR train continues along.

Great work as always.

Thanks you sir! The PR train is a fun little ride.


June 10, 2021 - Dynamic Lower

Pin Squat
Wide Stance: 135 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps
Medium Stance: 145 pounds - 3 sets x 3 reps
Sometimes I get cramps in the strangest places. My rear delts starting cramping up near the end of these sets. Suppose I'm not used to keeping them tight for that long, and they just weren't having it, lol. The wide stance squats ruined me. Was planning to do all six sets with a wide stance, but I would've gone to total failure at some point if I had done that. I need to incorporate more wide stance squatting I think. Helps build up the hips obviously, but I also never really realized how much it shortens the range of motion. Had to move the pins up 2 notches from where they are with my normal stance width.

Meadows Row: 35 Pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

[Filmbuff81]

I’ll get cramps in my delts or traps on squats too lol.

Doesn’t even make sense

[CW47]

I’ll get cramps in my delts or traps on squats too lol.

Doesn’t even make sense

Just from keeping the upper back tight, I'm sure. But yeah, logically you would expect the primary muscles used in a lift (ie: legs on squats) to be the ones to cramp up. But I find that's rarely the case for me. It's always the smaller stabilizers that cramp up first.


June 12, 2021 - Dynamic Upper
Posting up yesterdays workout since I wasn't able to get around to it until now.

Bench Press: 125 pounds 8 sets x 8 reps
5 pound increase from last week. Didn't feel any more difficult. Played around with grip width from 1 set to the next. I'm trying to gradually widen my normal grip, because I surely need to shorten my range of motion if I want to make notable progress on this lift. trying to widen it about a half finger at a time, slowly but surely. Also doing a fair amount of wide grip work to help build up strength with it.




Larsen Press - Wide Grip: 135 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps
Was doing 5x5 with 140 a few weeks ago, but doing this after an 8x8 std bench is a whole different beast. Took everything I had to get through the final reps on the 2nd and 3rd sets. I may just keep the weight the same next week. We'll see how I'm feeling on the day.

Also got my new belt yesterday - a Pioneer Cut 3 incher. It's a beauty.

[CW47]

June 13, 2021 - Max Lower

Paused Squat: 245 pounds x 1 rep
Previous PR on this was 255. Quite sure I could have beat this today, but I'm trying to keep most of my max effort work to a 9 RPE or less, and stay away from the 9.5-10's. This rep at 245 was around an 8.5 or 9.




Stiff Legged Deficit Deadlift - 3 inches: 205 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
These were all relatively smooth and easy. Biggest issue was grip. I'm not at all used to doing 10 rep sets on deads, and I was holding on for dear life on the last reps doing these double overhand. Ended up making it through all of them though.

[Filmbuff81]

That squat looked easy.

Great job.

I’m sure your training partner helped cheer you on hahaha.

[CW47]

That squat looked easy.

Great job.

I’m sure your training partner helped cheer you on hahaha.

It was not too bad - moved pretty smoothly.
And yes, my training partner made all the difference, holding (and chewing on) my ab wheel while silently rooting me on.

[Raigs]

My kids love the ab wheel also. Nice to see your still going strong! Awesome work on the 245 paused squats

[CW47]

My kids love the ab wheel also. Nice to see your still going strong! Awesome work on the 245 paused squats

He kept staring at the thing when it was sitting on the table, so I put it in front of him and he fell in love. I kind of get the fascination, lol.
And thanks man, appreciate that. Fitting in the work when I can.


June 15, 2021 - Max Upper

Incline Bench Press - 30 Degree: 155 pounds x 1 rep
This may be the first time I've ever done an incline press that wasn't a complete mess. Previous PR was 160, but I basically dropped the bar on my chest from the halfway point down and used as much bounce as I could (it was ugly). Had full control this time, and it was around an 8.5 RPE, which is right in my target range for Max Effort work now. It's clear progress.

DB Shoulder Press (no back support): 30 pound db's - 3 sets x 10 reps
I really like the feel of doing the DB's without any back support. Something about it feels more natural than when I'm leaning against the bench. I suppose because it's a freer motion. Felt really good.


Here's video of the Incline Press:

[CW47]

June 17, 2021 - Dynamic Lower
Baby picked up a cold from Daycare. I picked it up from him. Not been feeling great. Fit in a short workout today though since I will definitely not be able to lift tomorrow.

Pin Squat - Wide Stance: 125 pounds - 6 sets x 3 reps
This pin placement puts me right on what was historically my sticking point. In addition, the wide stance is not nearly as strong as my narrow-medium stance. The combination resulted in some reps where I struggled to get the bar moving. It's working multiple weak points at once, which I think will pay off over time.

Meadows Row: 37.5 Pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps
Baby need to sleep, so I stepped away after the second set to lay him down. He fought hard to stay awake, and by the time he finally gave up the fight, I felt like I needed a nap too, lmao. Just decided to call it quits there.

[CW47]

Not been feeling very good of late, and also been very busy. Lifting (and posting here) have had to take a back seat. I took video of the lifts shown below, but just don't have the time to upload them.

June 19, 2021 - Dynamic Upper

Bench Press: 130 pounds 8 sets x 8 reps
Still feeling well within my capabilities at this weight. Made some adjustments to my bar path, looking for better consistency, and more strength off the chest. If felt good, but still needs some work.

Larsen Press - Wide Grip: 135 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps
Went much better this time around than the previous week. I'll increase to 140 next week.



June 22, 2021 - Max Lower

Deadlift w/Chains: 325 pounds + 4 Chains x 1 rep [PR]
Went up pretty easily. This was probably closer to a 9 RPE than an eight, but it was somewhere between the two. New 3 inch belt worked very well. I wish it were just a little stiffer, but it felt like just the right thickness. That last sentence could take on a whole different meaning in a different context, lmao!

Wasn't feeling up to doing the 3x10 deficit deads I had planned, so I just did some Sumo Deadlift singles at 325 and called it.

[EliKoehn]

Looks like a good workout! Seems like you've been making a lot of progress on bench lately.

[CW47]

Looks like a good workout! Seems like you've been making a lot of progress on bench lately.

Thanks Eli.

Yes, bench is coming along nicely. Made a pretty major change in my approach about 2 months ago (focusing on volume more than intensity and/or speed work), and it is working well. My bench was completely stagnant for years, so it feels good to be making some progress on it.

[Filmbuff81]

Awesome work and catch those naps whenever you can!

[CW47]

Awesome work and catch those naps whenever you can!

Yes sireee!


June 25, 2021 - Max Upper

Bench Press - 1 Pin: 175 pounds x 1 rep
Bit of a struggle today. Actually, the warmups seemed just fine, but for some reason I just hit a wall a 175. It was probably a 9 RPE. Previous time doing this I got up to 190. Could've been about 5 different things I can think of that contributed to it. Not stressing about it at all though. It's just 1 lift from 1 session.

On the positive side, I got some 2.5 inch Jerk Blocks from Rogue to use for block pulls and deficit deads. Tried using them today to prop the bench up higher, since I'm always struggling to get the bar at a good height for unracking on bench. It put me in a much better position for the unrack. Didn't mess with the foot placement either (which is what I was concerned about). They're large enough that my feet fit on them without needing to do anything unusual. Will probably stick with this setup for bench moving forward. And in general, I feel like my setup, leg drive, touch point, and bar path have all improved over the last couple of weeks, and I feel I'm pushing from a much more stable base. We'll keep on grinding...

DB Shoulder Press (no back support): 32.5 pound db's - 3 sets x 10 reps / 15's - 1 set x 25 reps
Really digging these. They hit the upper back muscles as much, if not more, as they do the shoulders. Felt stronger than last week even with the weight increase.
I threw in an AMRAP set with 50% of the working weight. Got up to 25 reps. I was done, lol. Not used to doing that many reps at once, even if it is with a measly 15 pounds. I get tired doing 25 bodyweight squats at this point, lmao. But it was a nice change up, and something I'll probably do more often. Just another way to challenge myself.

[CW47]

June 29, 2021 - Dynamic Lower
Been struggling to get in workouts over the last 2 weeks. Taking care of 2 kids on my own on evenings and weekends is enough to keep a person occupied on its own. Also been doing house hunting, and was fighting off a cold for a week and a half. Finally got one in today.

Pin Squat - Wide Stance: 130 pounds - 6 sets x 3 reps
Was feeling it in the hammy's big time on the last 3 sets. Amazing how fast muscles can get detrained... This felt really good today though.

Meadows Row: 40 Pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

[CW47]

July 1, 2021

Bench Press: 135 pounds 7 sets x 8 reps / 1 set x 7 reps
Literally came up 1 rep short of hitting the 8x8. Was short of sleep, and doing this workout past my bedtime. I also lost track of my reps on the sixth set - got partially through and couldn't remember if I was at 4 or 6 reps, so of course I did 4 more (pretty sure I did 2 extras...). Enough excuses though. It's a good time for me to change up the rep scheme anyway since I transition to a new cycle now. I'll change over to 10x10's and do those as long as I can.

My logging here has been scaled back already, but will be even more so for a while. It's not a super time-consuming endeavor, but it's still time better spent on other things right now. I'm sure I'll be back full force at some point.

[CW47]

Started a new cycle yesterday, which means testing my maxes on Squat and Bench. Both went about as well as I could hope.

Squat: 275 pounds x 1 rep
Bench: 185 pounds x 1 rep

As I was warming up for squat, I thought I may have a new PR in me. Did 275 thinking it would be a final warmup, and it turned out to be about my max for the day.
On bench, the 185 moved slowly but smoothly. It tied my PR, but was done with a good pause at the bottom and good control throughout.

With the limited workout time and minimalist programming, I've adjusted things so that I'll typically be benching 3-4 times per week, squatting twice, and deadlifting once or twice. That's without even changing any of the lifts - just moving things around to different days. This should help me at least maintain my lifts for now.