Tina's training log

[penny0527]

thanks. this never even occurred to me until you posted this. and lol, i can just envision where the bar is going to land. [in this post, new things to be scared about at the gym]

My bad!

I'm sure YOU will be fine. Me? No. I lack grace n all that chit

[tina722]

Rebuildup Week 1 day 3

BP: 110x5; 115x5x4
HBBS: 160x6x4
SLDL: 155x7x3
Pullups: 4x6
Curls: 4x15

Survived my second day of feet-up-bench for warmup. :P For the worksets, 110 didn't feel too bad, but 115 was pretty hard. The fifth rep always slowed down A LOT. SLDL is fun, I always like finding that sweet spot for the hips and flat back, but everytime I am surprised either at (1) how hard it is to maintain whole body tightness or (2) how tired I get maintaining it. My conventional DL is more of a grab it and rip, so the slow setup, the high reps for the SLDL are always pretty challenging, ... it shouldn't be a surprise, but it is. Pullups are fantasically awesome. I've reached a new phase in my pullup form. Normally I relax/stretch out at the bottom allowing me to get some rebound momentum and my elbows go out wide from my body. Lately I've myself able to keep feet pointed and legs straight, elbows are tucking, and I have usually preferred to test the stopping point - stopping not at the "relaxed bottom" but at a halfway point, pause, and pull back up. ATM, pullups are done 2-3reps from failure, but I'd like to see if I can start pushing this up soon.

[penny0527]

I have not done pull ups in a long time. One of my favorites though. Fantastically hard

[tina722]

I have not done pull ups in a long time. One of my favorites though. Fantastically hard

They are hard and very hard to get better at or increase reps.

***


Rebuildup Week 1 day 4

2ct pause bench press: 110x4x2, 115x4x2
BOR: 95x8x3
FS: 105x6, 135x6x2
machine row and curls

AM workout, haven't done that in a while. May do some heavier low bar squats tomorrow!

[tina722]

Rebuildup week 2 day 1

OHS: 4x5
LBBS: 185x3, 195x3x4
Pause squat: 135x4x4
BP: 117.5x3x2, 120x3x2
Reverse lunges and weighted GHR

Fun day, squats are still really difficult, but at least they were heavy-ish. I'm trying to not be frustrated over the lack of progress this year. :rolls eyes: BP was moved pretty well, I was shaking quite a bit, so I'm sure they looked a lot harder than they actually were.

[lazyaj]

Overhead squats are the worst! Do you hate your coach yet?

[tina722]

Overhead squats are the worst! Do you hate your coach yet?

They are soo hard, but as long as I have squat shoes, I have enough mobility and I would rather do these then other squat variations. I actually haven't talked to him...just sticking the basic outline of the program to see if I can get back on track. This way he can't tell me to do something else. :P I'm thinking I'll get set up for a new program next year and just ride it out for now.

[tina722]

Rebuildup Week 2 day 2

DL: 235x3, 255x3x3
2 ct pause BP: 117.5x3x3, 120x3, 2 (failed third rep of one of these sets, pause was a tiny bit too long
Pullups: 15x4x3
Cable rows, curls and tricep pullovers

Soo sore from lunges yesterday. ugh.

[tina722]

Rebuildup week 2. day 3

BP: 115x5, 117.5x5x4
HBBS: 135x6x3,155x6, 145x6x2
Machine row: 4x12
OH DB press: 4x10
cable work


Moving on and settling in.

[tina722]

Rebuildup week 2 day 4

2ct pause BP: 120x3x2, 125x3x2, 130x2x2
Pullups: 4x8
Some other stuff

Rebuildup week 3 day 1

LBBS: 190x3, 205x3x5, 155x7x3
Hack squats: 4x12
Leg extensions
Weighted GHR: 4x12

Forgot my squat shoes so did these squat in the Reebok LiteTR that I normally deadlift in. I might continue to do this, it was nice to not feel like I was falling forward. They were still impossibly hard, previous cycles I was doing 5-6 reps at this weight - I'm ready for some improvement!!! :/


Rebuildup week 3 day 2

BP: 115x5x3, 120x5x2
Rows, pullups, pulldowns and curls

and finished today
HBBS: 95x10, 115x10, 135x10x2, 145x8x2
DL: 235x3, 255x3x3, 265x3, 185x10x3
GHR: 4x12
Glute pullthroughs: 5x12
BP: 95x8, 100x8, 105x8, 110x8x2

Bench felt pretty good; was nice to get through the higher reps. I've been having trouble keeping my back extended during DL. It ends up rounding and I do this push hips/shrug thing to finish the pull. I was able to keep good form through the sets at 185, but these were T&G and tended towards more of a straight leg DL.

[penny0527]

Jealous of your bench numbers

[tina722]

Jealous of your bench numbers

thanks. compliments always make everything better.

[tina722]

Cycle 4. Week1Day1

BP: 105x6x4
HBBS: 135x7, 155x7x3, 165x7
Pause DL: 205x4x4
cable rows.

yup. decided to start over officially, It'll be nice to back in the easier percentages for a short time.

[tina722]

W1D2. Comp squat/legs

LBBS: 190x4x5
Pause HBBS: 135x5x4
Hack squat: 4x10
Other hack squat machine: 4x12
GHR: 4x12

No squat shoes today, which is nice, I don't lean forward as much, but it is harder to reach depth and heels tend to come up.

awkward angle, but I need to start recording again


W1D3. DL + 2ct pause BP

DL: 235x3x5, 185x8x3
2 ct pause BP: 115x3x4, 115x6
PP: 65x5, 75x5, 80x5, 85x5, 65x5
Cable rows: 4x12
Pulldowns: 4x12

DL were done without a belt, and still moved pretty well. I'm working on getting lats more engaged before the pull to keep back extended longer. BP moved really nicely, during my 6th set ended up doing 6 reps. RPE 8.

[tina722]

C4.W2.D1. accessory everything

HBBS: 7@135, 150, 160, 170, 155, 135 [belted for 160 and 170]
Pause DL: 215x4x2, 225x4x2
BP: 110x5x5
Face pulls, pulldowns

Pushed the HBBS a little too hard, but was having fun. 170# ended up being RPE 9ish. When I get tired, I lose tightness at the bottom, sink the reps a little too low and have to rely more on my back to get me out. Pause DL were great, all beltless, because I can. Hopefully I'll get better at bracing consistently through the lift. BP was easy. I'm traveling Wed-Sun, so I'm not sure what other workouts I'll get in over the next week :/. Also, pretty proud of myself for buying protein powder and taking it all of two days in a row. Sitting at 135ish and I'm going to try to eat my way through the next few months.

[tina722]

C4.W2.D2: 2ct BP/upper

2Ct BP: 110x4x5
CGBP: 95x7x3
Pullups: 3x7
PP: up to 85x5
BB row: 3x10
Curls: 4x12

Good day, had an extra hour today to fit one more workout in.

[penny0527]

Could you go into a little bit of detail about why you decided to start over?

[tina722]

I don't have one solid reason. I had been hoping that I could pick up with the peaking part of the program. But after 10days away from the gym the lifts were hard and I couldn't get up to the weights prescribed. I've had a lot of form inconsistencies this cycle with the squat that really hurt any enthusiasm I might have had for peaking and maxing out. Last cycle we added in front squats to train my quads harder and to stay upright more. Now the high bar feels good, but low bar is a mess.

I suppose I could have done lower weights. But that really doesn't appeal to me.
Looking back, I think it was the right choice, I have more energy after the workouts, look forward to each session more. Its been easier to set daily goals because training is not so soul-sucking.

I've been wondering a little if it would be better for me to drop the 4 weeks of peaking, and work in more regular heavy doubles and triples. Maybe monthly. I haven't talked to my coach, that also felt too draining. Well talk again next year, or maybe ill try out managing my own programming. For the moment i went back to weak 1 on myprogramming.I switched out a few accessories, added in a bigger deload after every 4 weeks and increased overall bench volume a tiny bit.

[tina722]

C4.w2.d3

LBBS 155x6x3
Hbbs 135x5x3
DL 235x4x3
PP 75x5, 85x5x2
Split squats 20sx8x3 each leg

Found an awesome olympic weightlifting/ crossfit gym that actally has open gym all day long. I thought about joining for the class, but just went with a basic workout.

I was supposed to do 195x4x5 lbbs today, but there were too many variables to make me confident to go for it. DL is supposed to be day 4, but i wont have time for that, so stuck it in here. Beltless for the whole day, and no other accessories (wraps, shoes, knee sleeves) made for an interesting day. No benching. 

[SophieM]

Some how I got unsubbed. I'm back now

[tina722]

Some how I got unsubbed. I'm back now

Been wondering where you were :P

*****


c4.w2.d4
LBBS: 185x4, 195x4x4
Pause HBBS: 135x5, 145x5x2
2ct pause BP: 110x5x4
Pullups: 4x7
curls

https://youtu.be/a6iPERJR5GA


https://youtu.be/juJWk4B-dog


c4.w3.d1
HBBS:155x7x3
2ct pause BP: 115x3x3, 120x3x3
CGBP: 95x8x3
Rows: 4x12

Traveling caused things to get a bit mixed up, so movements have not necessarily been done on the right day. Got my LBBS in yesterday, most reps were pretty clean, lots of lean on rep #4 through all sets. I'm still not seeing or feeling the tightness coming out of the hole that I would like to see/feel. Hopefully more HBBS and time will improve that. Sometimes I wonder if I should drop LBBS for the cycle and only do high bar. The high bar has been feeling more consistent. BP still moving along. Arms and upper body have definitely grown, and I'll give credit to all the benching and rowing that I do. Pullups were hard, but I'll blame the extra bw.

[penny0527]

I don't have one solid reason. I had been hoping that I could pick up with the peaking part of the program. But after 10days away from the gym the lifts were hard and I couldn't get up to the weights prescribed. I've had a lot of form inconsistencies this cycle with the squat that really hurt any enthusiasm I might have had for peaking and maxing out. Last cycle we added in front squats to train my quads harder and to stay upright more. Now the high bar feels good, but low bar is a mess.

I suppose I could have done lower weights. But that really doesn't appeal to me.
Looking back, I think it was the right choice, I have more energy after the workouts, look forward to each session more. Its been easier to set daily goals because training is not so soul-sucking.

I've been wondering a little if it would be better for me to drop the 4 weeks of peaking, and work in more regular heavy doubles and triples. Maybe monthly. I haven't talked to my coach, that also felt too draining. Well talk again next year, or maybe ill try out managing my own programming. For the moment i went back to weak 1 on myprogramming.I switched out a few accessories, added in a bigger deload after every 4 weeks and increased overall bench volume a tiny bit.

Been there. When lifting becomes something you do not look forward to then it becomes impossible to show up and give your best day after day.

Do you continually run peaking cycles?

[tina722]

Been there. When lifting becomes something you do not look forward to then it becomes impossible to show up and give your best day after day.

Do you continually run peaking cycles?

I've been on a similar program for the last 14ish months; the first two months in the cycle are building volume, with the last month focused on peaking. With that said, somehow I've only managed to max out 2x: December 2015 and May 2016; although I did heavy doubles July 2016. I've also done AMRAPs once a month, although for this cycle I'll try to do bench AMRAPs weekly.

[penny0527]

Does the strength you gain during peak more or less stick with you through the next cycle? I've been reading how some people peak but the strength isn't permanent.

[tina722]

It doesn't stick, but each new cycle builds off the new maxes. I don't know how this program compares to other types of peaking programs though. The first two months have a lot of volume, which I also count on for long term strength/size.

I haven't enjoyed the peaking, but I think there is still value in including it. it allows a chance to work in lower rep ranges with heavier weights and a chance to formally test maxes, which should be going up each cycle. I think they expect 2.5-10lbs increase per 12 week cycle. It's one of those things that I feel like I should enjoy, but never have. I've read that others find peaking pretty challenging/painful/stressful, so, so far I have just worked through it. I'm hoping that taking bigger/better deloads and/or reducing the peaking time (4weeks down to 2-3) would help, I'll have to work through these options over the next few cycles. ....that got long.

[tina722]

c4.w3.d2

HBBS: 155x7x3
BP: 110x6x4
PP: 75x5x3
Machine row: 4x12
Cable row: 3x10
Pulldown/curls

I was pretty excited to go to the gym and thought I had good energy, but felt tired for OHP and BP. Pretty generic workout otherwise.

[SophieM]

I was pretty excited to go to the gym and thought I had good energy, but felt tired for OHP and BP. Pretty generic workout otherwise.

I hate when this happens. Then there will be days where I feel like crap but the lifts go awesome.

[tina722]

C4.W3.D3: BS & 2ct pause bp

OHS: 85x5x3
LBBS: 200x4x5
Pause LBBS: 175x3x4
2ct pause BP: 120x3x4, 120x5 (AMRAP)
Split squat: 4x8
Hack squat: 4x10

https://youtu.be/4CtFn09Fa1c


Today was a pretty satisfying training day. Squats look a tiny bit tighter and I'm hitting the hole with more speed. There's also more consistency through all four reps. Butt came up a few times on BP, but overall was nice to feel a little challenge and fight to maintain form. AMRAP set got me 5 reps, all paused. PR!. I found 'frog pumps' on bret contreras instagram - and they not only give a nice abductor stretch, but activate the glutes really nicely for me. Video contains some BS and bench sets.

[tina722]

20161218.c4.w3.d4: DL &BP

FS: 135x3x3
DL: 250x3x5
BP: 117.5x5x4
CGBP: 105x7x2, 105x6
Weighted GHR 4x12
Rows/curls
Pullups: 3x7
calf raises/GHD situps

Another satisfying day done. Belted up for sets 2-4 on DL, and they were jumping off the floor. Even the unbelted set #1 moved really well, but I didn't want to kill my lower back with all the volume, so belted up after that. I only got 6 reps on the last CGBP, I really wanted 7, but decided to avoid any grinding or getting closer to failure. I'll be traveling 20-28th, so we'll see what training is like over this period. Happy holidays everyone!

[lazyaj]

Happy holidays Tina! Training is looking good! Glad your squats are feeling better again.