The chronicles of Luke the Rotund.

[lukepeter]

I used to be a lifter like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee...

Marriage and child wrangling altered my life significantly, I traded exercise for family time, and ultimately couch time. Luke the Rotund emerged as I donned the sweatpants of +3 ice cream consumption, the loose tops of strength of digestion, and the comfy slippers of the neverrunner.

At 19 I was pretty, and in good shape. At 28 I am neither - basically a NPC in the fitness world that I used to love.

Herein shall I chronicle my quest, my agonizing climb back up the slopes of inadequacy to the not-so-lofty peaks of acceptability, perhaps even further to the mystic realm of ripped Adonis (unlikely).\

Our tale begins with the intrepid hero getting a message via email... It is an offer from the photographers that captured his image as he hauled his over buoyant carcass from the water following an open water mile swim, asking if he would like to purchase prints or the digital copies of these images. Our hero feels a surge of pride remembering the completion of the event, and thinks a reminder of such an achievement my not go amiss. He clicks on the link...

Little did he know that the horrors he was about to witness would strip his pride and shrink his ego - leaving him reeling in a quagmire of self loathing. He takes a large bite out of a chocolate slab to steady his nerves and puts on his glasses to make sure what he is seeing is accurate. It is. Seemingly instantly, the mists clouding his perception have cleared, he has become... Luke the Rotund.

6 months will have passed since that fateful day when the sun inescapably rises on the 19th of this month. Some progress has been made.

Fantasy tale aside - I have decided to post a weekly log here as a means of getting my arse kicked for non-adherence to the plan, and occasionally for validation of results (no-one wants to admit that this is important, but it is).

Trigger pics below - weekly progress pics logged weekly in bodyspace.

Stats as follows:

Assume all lifts are weights used for 3 sets of ten reps...

Height - 6"4' (193cm)

Start:
weight 145kg
bench 60kg
squat 40kg
deadlift 80kg

Current:
Weight 125kg
Bench 110kg
squat 100kg
deadlift 120kg

Bodyfat percentage is an unknown for me at the moment...

I was eating mostly clean for the last 24 weeks - since commencing the 250k challenge I have set my macro targets at 200P, 100C, 90F - and have hit them within a few percent since Saturday.
I lift 4 times in a week - chest and tris, legs, rest, back and bis, shoulders and abs, rest, rest.
I do not cardio - not even once

I will be honest here, what I expect from those willing to contribute is a hearty "harden the **** up" if I become whiny, and a kick in the pants if my adherence slips. So come on in and help me stay accountable

Luke the Rotund

[bealio13]

Good luck man. The only way this works is consistency in what you set out to achieve, but i guess you already know this haha.

[lukepeter]

Good luck man. The only way this works is consistency in what you set out to achieve, but i guess you already know this haha.

Thanks Bealio. Likewise.

Nutrition update :

The intrepid hero has ground his way through the week foraging here and there in efforts to provide sufficient nutrition. Occasionally he has been tempted to stray from the path of enlightenment by delicacies and tidbits that present themselves along the way, it seems he is still wearing the shirt of fortified digestion, but he is trying.

Macro targets : 200P, 100C, 90F

Macros achieved this past week:
Sunday: 209P, 99.9C, 87F
Monday: 198P, 103C, 91F
Tuesday: 200P, 110.4C, 85F
Wednesday: 182P, 122C, 108F
Thursday: 257P, 104C, 136F - Unplanned braai - unable to resist mutton chops and steak.
Friday: 200P, 81C, 144F.
Saturday: 184P, 105C, 86F

An acceptable week from a training perspective. All four workouts completed, thursday was particularly tough considering my back and forearms were very stiff from deads on legs day(tuesday).

Luke

[lukepeter]

So - 26 weeks in and its time for a comparison shot...

week 1 - 144kg, weakish
Week 26 - 124.6kg, less weak

Bodyfat unknown.



I am happy with progress so far - it is hard not to be impatient with progress, but it took me 6 years to ruin my body - I cant expect to fix it all in 6 months...

Apologies if I made your eyes bleed

[PeteDenmark]

Wow man - that is a world of difference. Definitely subbed.

[lukepeter]

Wow man - that is a world of difference. Definitely subbed.

Thanks Pete. As much as I don't like to admit it - external validation of progress feels good, and makes it easier to keep going.

[PeteDenmark]

Thanks Pete. As much as I don't like to admit it - external validation of progress feels good, and makes it easier to keep going.

No problem man. Though i feel that some of the loss of circumference around your abdomen is down you to giving birth to a cat. If you look closely, it's lying right underneath you. Kinda' cheating don't you think?

On a serious note. How many sets do you approx do on any given workout routine? I know i varies depending on factors like if it's compound free weight or machines, but just a ball park figure?

[lukepeter]

No problem man. Though i feel that some of the loss of circumference around your abdomen is down you to giving birth to a cat. If you look closely, it's lying right underneath you. Kinda' cheating don't you think?

On a serious note. How many sets do you approx do on any given workout routine? I know i varies depending on factors like if it's compound free weight or machines, but just a ball park figure?

hehe, I thought nobody would notice... the pain of diet is in no way comparable to the pain of squeezing a cat through my urethra... so glad its out the way.

When I was regaining 6 years of lost strength I would typically do a warmup set, followed by 12,10,8,6 with increasing weights to get my strength up.

At this point, I am relatively happy with my strength and will go 3x10 one week, 11,10,10 next week, 11,11,10 and so on until I can comfortably do 3x12, then increase weight.

If I am pushed for time(need to be done in less than 40mins) I will do 3 exercises per muscle group, with a warmup and 3 loaded sets per exercise. so 6 exercises, 18 sets(excl warmups)
If I have a bit more time i will do 4 exercises per muscle group with a similar set range - except for squats and deadlifts where I occasionally push for 6 sets each.

[PeteDenmark]

hehe, I thought nobody would notice... the pain of diet is in no way comparable to the pain of squeezing a cat through my urethra... so glad its out the way.

When I was regaining 6 years of lost strength I would typically do a warmup set, followed by 12,10,8,6 with increasing weights to get my strength up.

At this point, I am relatively happy with my strength and will go 3x10 one week, 11,10,10 next week, 11,11,10 and so on until I can comfortably do 3x12, then increase weight.

If I am pushed for time(need to be done in less than 40mins) I will do 3 exercises per muscle group, with a warmup and 3 loaded sets per exercise. so 6 exercises, 18 sets(excl warmups)
If I have a bit more time i will do 4 exercises per muscle group with a similar set range - except for squats and deadlifts where I occasionally push for 6 sets each.

Cats in the urethra are the worst .

I also find that somewhere from 18 to 23 sets is about all i can crank out with ok form, and still getting progressive overload from workout to workout, while in a cal. deficit.

Hope you will update more frequently. Keep going strong.

[lukepeter]

Right, confession time.

Training week was perfect - sessions on the correct days with the correct volume and intensity. Strength was great, only niggle is piriformis syndrome from slightly heavier than normal squats (going to dial back the weighs and increase volume this week I think).

Diet was pretty good:

Sunday: 184p,100c,100f
Monday: 232p,136c,86f
Tuesday: 190p,100c,85f
Wednesday: 193p,102c,84f
Thursday: 271p,172c,92f -600kcal overbudget.
Friday: 217p,93c,76f
Saturday... 303p,322c,300f (a word on this below)

So, decent average for the week barring Saturday. I have a reasonable explanation though - Instead of weekly cheat days I have set the rewards at every 4 kg lost = 1 cheat meal - so, 600g of ribs, 500g steak, potato bake, 750ml of grape juice and 4 scoops of ice-cream and chocolate sauce later... Satisfaction. I have zero regrets, and I feel truly replenished for the week coming up. Today (Sunday), was back to good macro tracking and consumption so no risk of falling off the wagon

Ready to face another week chin held high, and muscles prepared to raise and lower heavy things repeatedly.

Luke

[PeteDenmark]

I'm sorry to hear about tour injury. How exactly can you tell it's the piriformis? Glute pain? (not trying to be funny).

From reading your posts here in your log, it's hard to figure out what your relationship with food is. I, for instance, consider the overconsumption of calories, that led to my weight gain, to be a sign of an addiction. Your know - the classic using food to fill a void, that should have been filled by something else. Putting things in my mouth just makes me relax, be it food or cigarettes. This is a hard realization, because i consider myself a pretty cognitively sharp person, but i got fat anyway.

Are you in the same category, or do you have another reason why you became overweight?

Reason i ask is, that a 5200 cal cheat is a little hard to understand. I realize that sometimes people slip up in their fat loss efforts. and binge. But you say that you do it systematically and planned, when you hit a weight loss step of 4 kg. That seems strange.

I could understand, if there was some sort of occasion, like a barbecue party, anniversary, or similar, but what is the purpose of planning to eat too much? Is 5200 cals the threshold, where you feel as though you haven't denied yourself something?

I'm not judging, so i hope i don't give the impression that i feel entitled to some sort justification. I'm genuinely curious to find out what what your thoughts are, if you are willing to share them . If not - that's cool.

This is a fat loss forum, where i hope the idea is to support each other, so we can make good decisions. I often find myself caught up in a self referencing state, where i feel very comfortable with my abilities, systems, ideas and knowledge. But again - even with all that, i still messed up my body.

That's why i'm here - i hope that people can call me out, and show interest, if i start to come up with justifications.

So this was just me sending out a probe, to see if you are truly as secure in your system/s, as you seem.

[lukepeter]

Hi Pete.

First up - the piriformis... This is less an injury than a niggly side effect of what was a neglected set of glutes. It manifests as lower back, glute, and hammy pain. myofacial release massage helps, and while the pain and spasm seems localized around the medial glute the sciatic symptoms point towards an impinging piriformis.

Secondly - my relationship with food...
Thanks for taking more than a shallow interest in this process - its unusual in a relationship like this. I suppose I have never really looked at it introspectively, eating large amounts was always a social thing in my family(including a network of very close extended family), we exercised a huge amount, and ate like individuals that spent the majority of their recreation time moving. My cheat day yesterday was a family barbecue (as the contents of the meal would suggest), overeating at such an event has become heavily ingrained in my identity.

Once I got married, the time I spent exercising reduced drastically, the eating habits stuck though. I dont, and didnt, typically eat excessively out of a need to fill an emotional void or in response to any emotion, the best I can describe it is that I ate "recreationally", like a hobby if that makes any sense... Its something that would pass the time, that I enjoyed doing, and could do in conjunction with a busy family life. A bad habit.

I find adherance to a training routine produces a similar adherence to what I know to be sound eating habits, and seems to reinforce my self discipline in other aspects of my life also - I am not sure why I am wired that way, but it seems to be an effective method of consistent improvement for me.

Our energy values seem to be slightly out of whack (16.8kj per gram of carbs and protein, and 37.8kj per gram of fat) as my calcs put me at 4300kcal for the day, which was around 1000 over maintenance for me (an acceptable surplus in my opinion)

As to my faith in the "system". I went through fairly significant weight loss before - once I left high school during what ended up being two gap years, I had lots of spare time to train, and an opportunity to educate myself regarding nutrition. When I got to relatively low body fat (around 8-10%) I went through a patch of what can only be described as an eating disorder (exercise bulimia), I ran and cycled excessively in an attempt to lose a couple extra percent bodyfat (for no realistically viable purpose). My strength flagged drastically(about 30% weaker than I was when at 12%) and I was a grumpy human being. With that in mind as my cautionary backdrop, I have undertaken to go through this transformation in a less restrictive manner, the weight loss is slower, but my mood is not changed, I am not constantly hungry or running my guilt down on the road, and I am getting stronger week by week. Historically my point of giving up on a training regime has been 6 weeks (6 weeks of 6 days a week heavy training), I am very confident that the lifestyle changes I have undergone over the last 6 months are sustainable mostly because the routine is not massively restrictive, or obsessive (I have stared obsession in the face before, as mentioned above). Its just something I do now, and hopefully will continue to do until they ban me from the gym for getting my walker caught in the cable machines

The above is an outrageous wall of text, quite probably fraught with grammatical errors (maths and science are my strong points, language always seemed to elude me), thanks to any who go to the effort to read it...

Luke

edit: in retrospect, my current aversion to any form of steady state cardio may well stem from a fear of regressing into the unhealthy behavior mentioned above, and my belief that I am simply protecting my gains my be a subconscious fabrication. Who would have guessed at the subtlety of the human mind...?

[lukepeter]

I'm sorry to hear about tour injury. How exactly can you tell it's the piriformis? Glute pain? (not trying to be funny).

Reason i ask is, that a 5200 cal cheat is a little hard to understand. I realize that sometimes people slip up in their fat loss efforts. and binge. But you say that you do it systematically and planned, when you hit a weight loss step of 4 kg. That seems strange.

I could understand, if there was some sort of occasion, like a barbecue party, anniversary, or similar, but what is the purpose of planning to eat too much? Is 5200 cals the threshold,

mathematical error. fat for saturday was at 200g not 300g as shown in my weekly macro log...

[PeteDenmark]

Hey Luke.

Thank you for the in depth response to my question, and for taking it in the spirit in was meant.

The typo where 200 grams of fat, was logged as 300 would would have made a difference in how i perceived the cheat day. Because yeah - 303p = 1212 cal, 322 c = 1288 cal, 300 fat = 2700 cal which is 5200 cals, but eating 4300 cals on a social occasion would not have seemed strange at all .

I agree that your current way of doing things seems quite maintainable. Just challenging enough to make it interesting, progressive enough to be motivational, and the restrictions aren't all consuming - so in my view you've hit the sweet spot.

The reason i take such an "unusual" interest is, apart from general curiosity, that it also helps myself to take the weight loss process more seriously. If i was to view it as solely a calorie counting and workout thing, i would lose interest very quickly, but if i can peel back that layer, there is something cool there.

Believe me - you linguistic skills are fine - better than the language in 99% of the posts i read. I, on the other hand, feel like a lot of my sentences get more riddle with emotional statements and fluff, because i'm constantly hunting for words, and a ton of my vocabulary has been fed into me through bad movies .

[lukepeter]

Chest and triceps this morning, all I can say is thank god for glycogen and the occasional re-feed...

Bench was a personal best for me at 100x10, 105x10, 110x9, controlled, steady reps. I have been at a strength plateau for the last few weeks (specifically in my bench press) and it felt really great to break through that ceiling finally.

Its easy to forget how it feels to train on a energy surplus, I will enjoy the wave while it lasts since it will be around another 3 weeks until I get that feeling again

Keep grinding.

Luke

[cherrygarcia80]

Wow, those are some great progress pics! That's some hard work right there! That's a really cool look with the new haircut too. All the best

[PeteDenmark]

Bench was a personal best for me at 100x10, 105x10, 110x9
Luke

Woah - 110kgx9. That is harcore man, and you didn't even save yourself in the previous lifts, so you could go for max reps record. Those kind of reps with that weight isn't in my scope yet, but hopefully within 6 months .

With those kind of weights with that many reps, you should be able to bench your own bodyweight once easy, which would be cool.

[lukepeter]

Woah - 110kgx9. That is harcore man, and you didn't even save yourself in the previous lifts, so you could go for max reps record. Those kind of reps with that weight isn't in my scope yet, but hopefully within 6 months .

With those kind of weights with that many reps, you should be able to bench your own bodyweight once easy, which would be cool.

Thanks Pete.

For tracked workout purposes I don't typically count the bar since it is one of those spin collar types, but it weighs around 7.5kg - so in my head I know I managed 117.5x9, and it makes me happy I am sure you can relate, but being strong is a big part of my identity, I was always the big strong guy and being demoted to just the fat guy was humbling - so progress here means a lot to me.

My wife tends to chastise me whenever I mention I have gotten stronger "don't hurt yourself, don't get too big" etc. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't lifted that too big is really not attainable without testosterone therapy, but I think she struggles to separate the idea of lean mass from the stupid amount of bodyfat I put on over the last 6 years, so I don't mind as that was my fault entirely.

[PeteDenmark]

Thanks Pete.

I am sure you can relate, but being strong is a big part of my identity, I was always the big strong guy and being demoted to just the fat guy was humbling - so progress here means a lot to me.

Well - with 117,5 kg's for reps, you are there. Not many casual lifter can do that. But yeah - i can relate. I've always been the yardstick for size in my circle, like "he was even bigger than you" or "his arms where the size of yours". Knowing i didn't have the strength to back it up sucked.

You are doing well man - keep it up.

[lukepeter]

Thanks Peter, the grind goes on...

So, legs day today. Trained mid afternoon as I took a half day so my wife and I can go out for her birthday tonight... Saved 900kcal for dinner. So I can hopefully make it inside my energy goals and even if not perfectly adhering to macros.

Legs routine went well, squats still an issue if I go heavier than 80kg, its frustrating, but my left glute just refuses to do its bit...

Deads went well, a decent jump from last week to 100x10, 110x10, 120x10.

Auxiliary work also increased in weight by about 5%. So a good day all in all...

[PeteDenmark]

, its frustrating, but my left glute just refuses to do its bit...

Deads went well, a decent jump from last week to 100x10, 110x10, 120x10

Does every squat movement and bending at the hips bother the glute? Like smith machine split squat, lunges, Romanian deadlift, step ups, hyper extensions? If you have flexibility problems in the hips or ankles, training more squats will surely exacerbate the piriformis inflammation or whatever it is?

Good deadlift progression - i mean double from when you started? - that's awesome.

[lukepeter]

Does every squat movement and bending at the hips bother the glute? Like smith machine split squat, lunges, Romanian deadlift, step ups, hyper extensions? If you have flexibility problems in the hips or ankles, training more squats will surely exacerbate the piriformis inflammation or whatever it is?

Good deadlift progression - i mean double from when you started? - that's awesome.

Lunges, reverse hypers and romanians do not cause me any pain, it is only back squats, and only when the weight is high(ish). I can train high volume with lower weights (6 sets of ten with 50kg) and experience no pain, but as soon as the weight gets a little heavier I get piriformis pain, usually 2-3 days after legs day.

I realize that it may seem stubbornly stupid, but I am still hoping that my body will adapt and address whatever the weakness is that is causing the issue (so will go back to higher volume lower intensity) so that I can continue progressing in the squat in the long run. I have also experienced lower back pain (on the same side) from decline situps, which I believe has to do with an imbalance between my abs and lower back (abs stronger) which I am hoping the deadlifts will address, I havnt tried them for about 2 months, I will tentatively attempt them again this Friday to see if my deadlift progression has helped at all.

[PeteDenmark]

Lunges, reverse hypers and romanians do not cause me any pain, it is only back squats, and only when the weight is high(ish). I can train high volume with lower weights (6 sets of ten with 50kg) and experience no pain, but as soon as the weight gets a little heavier I get piriformis pain, usually 2-3 days after legs day.

I realize that it may seem stubbornly stupid, but I am still hoping that my body will adapt and address whatever the weakness is that is causing the issue (so will go back to higher volume lower intensity) so that I can continue progressing in the squat in the long run. I have also experienced lower back pain (on the same side) from decline situps, which I believe has to do with an imbalance between my abs and lower back (abs stronger) which I am hoping the deadlifts will address, I havnt tried them for about 2 months, I will tentatively attempt them again this Friday to see if my deadlift progression has helped at all.

It's your body, and if you feel what you are doing is helping, you should keep going. I have back problems, and having that knowledge hammer, i see nails everywhere. Nothing more annoying than people "who knows" stuff, and projects it on others.
Anyway - if it was a bulging disc, it would be strange that you don't feel it when you do deads. It's just when i hear sciatic pain, i feel like a visit to the doctor might be in order .

[lukepeter]

It's your body, and if you feel what you are doing is helping, you should keep going. I have back problems, and having that knowledge hammer, i see nails everywhere. Nothing more annoying than people "who knows" stuff, and projects it on others.
Anyway - if it was a bulging disc, it would be strange that you don't feel it when you do deads. It's just when i hear sciatic pain, i feel like a visit to the doctor might be in order .

I did have a very mild lumbar herniation early on in my program (august last year), and another in my thoracic spine in November - the lower back was because of poor deadlift form, and was fine within a week, the thoracic spine took a while longer to come right and was a result of straining during db shoulder press. I have been injury free since November thankfully, so I hope I have managed to find a sweet spot in terms of progression and safety.

Piriformis syndrome is fairly common from squats (from what I read), so I have no reason to believe it is related to my spinal injuries. It is very clear which muscle is the issue when I use a tennis ball to address the issue, the pain during deep massage is legendary - but good...

I will always be receptive to being forged by a knowledge hammer - your advise will continue to be welcome as long as it makes good sense

[lukepeter]

Perfect workout week, all routines completed as planned with some advances in weight.

Diet has also been on point, 1kg lighter than last week. It has been a difficult day from a restraint point of view. Chicken breast, baked fish, lean beef, tuna, and eggs are becoming hard to exist on.

[PeteDenmark]

COngrats on one more kg - wish is was me .

I feel you with the diet. It's like you pick some foods, where you feel comfortable with the macros and the way they satiate you, and every time you try to deviate from those things, it's like calories start to creep up. I can tell you i just rediscovered tortilla wraps, and even though they have 180 cals a pop, they just hit the spot with me.
Those are just the perfect way to make the ultimate macro package, and the varieties are endless. Eggs are just a whole different ballgame when they are wrapped up with some low cal dressing (probably filled with artificial sweetener, but you can't win 'em all) spinach, a little chicken, tomato, onion and peppers. Tortilla wraps can even double as a half decent pizza crust - again - HUGE potential, if you can do it without the cheese .

I think finding a variety of stuff that fits the macros is going to be key to keeping this up for the long haul.

[lukepeter]

Thanks Peter.

I do enjoy wraps - somehow they feel "healthier" than a couple slices of bread... It may be time to up my carbs a little and reduce fat intake, will adjust the balance by 10% this week and see how I feel.

________________________________

Macros for the week:

Protein, Carbs, Fat

Sunday: 177, 28, 70
Monday: 185, 78, 82
Tuesday: 235, 154, 40
Wednesday: 183, 105, 87
Thursday: 239, 102, 79
Friday: 168, 100, 116
Saturday: 197, 209, 154

Macros a little all over the place, but energy target has been on point, with protein and fat providing the majority and enough carbs to keep my glycogen levels acceptable.

I am finding that by the end of the week I am starving, increased focus on the next meal, basically too much time spent thinking about food - this is fair considering my deficit averages at 1000kcal a day - but it is not pleasant. The aggressive weight loss energy restriction will continue only until the end of the end of the 250k challenge at which point I will return to 2500kcal a day for a less aggressive deficit.

Cheat meals at every 4kg lost will not be sustainable, and I fear I will eat with reckless abandon when getting to that goal. With that in mind - I am using Saturday as a maintenance day (eating at 3000-3200kcal, with increased carbs) in order to maintain my sanity,

Cheers for now.

Luke

[PeteDenmark]

Yeah - finishing a meal, and then already looking forward to the next sucks, and is not sustainable, so good idea upping the cals.

So even though you say you don't do cardio, you still have a 3100 cal TDEE at a weight around 122 kg? Damn - that is cool. I guess having kids still keeps you pretty active, even though you loathe low intensity cardio .

[lukepeter]

I have a lot of stairs to climb at work (I may slack a little on my plant over-inspections on Tuesdays as a result of leg day), and heavily ADHD 6 year old son, and a 10 month old baby girl - There is plenty of activity in my day

_________________________________

Today's set was poor (Chest and tris's).

It may be that I was a little low on energy yesterday (1800kcal) or too heavily carb depleted(unlikely), or slightly sleep deprived (5.5 hours), but I flagged heavily in my third loaded set of bench this morning.

made 60x10, 100x10, 105x10, 100x7, 60x10 (significantly harder than it should have been)... Hopefully it is just a combination of the above effecting my ability to output work, I certainly haven't lost enough weight over the last week to justify a 10% loss in final working set strength. To bed early tonight - kids and wife allowing...

On a positive note, some guys that have been working out around the same times as me for the last 6 months commented on my progress positively, so enjoyed the brocognition

[PeteDenmark]

Today's set was poor (Chest and tris's).

It may be that I was a little low on energy yesterday (1800kcal) or too heavily carb depleted(unlikely), or slightly sleep deprived (5.5 hours), but I flagged heavily in my third loaded set of bench this morning.

made 60x10, 100x10, 105x10, 100x7, 60x10 (significantly harder than it should have been)... Hopefully it is just a combination of the above effecting my ability to output work, I certainly haven't lost enough weight over the last week to justify a 10% loss in final working set strength. To bed early tonight - kids and wife allowing

Lack of sleep is a MAJOR killer, though i suspect you are accustomed to it to some point. Let's hope it was just this session.

When you fail in the dreaded last set, do you feel as though it's the primary muscle that gives out, or the secondary/stabilizers? Sometimes, when doing chest, i can feel, that it is my triceps, that are not doing their job.
Not doing a complete deload, you could still try to lower the weight on the secondaries, and do slightly higher reps, with a slow and steady squeeze. Sometimes if i power through a set, by lowering the weight, clearly feel that it is not the primary that is being worked, and i lose all mind muscle connection.
Like when doing lat pulldowns, when your grip is tired, you don't hit your lats at all.

Don't know if i'm making any sense.