Aaron's random stuff

[jademonkey]

Now the other forearm also is acting up. Pain during bench press in both. Ugh why????
Trying to get forearms up to par, hoping it'll help. Carried around some 45 lb dumbbells for a while.

[jademonkey]

(245x10)x6 low bar squats and no pain! Really focused on keeping the weight pulled into my back and not letting my wrists do anything weird. I think perhaps I've been letting the bar weight go into my wrists which could be a factor in the forearm issues.

Did some Woolam rows and romanian deadlifts also.
Looking forward to press day tomorrow and especially deadlifts on Friday!

More sleep issues. Trying to set alarm for 9 hours. Last night ended up getting up after 10.5 hours, but who knows if I got 6 hours or 9 hours of actual sleep. Trying to get in a stretch before bed routine again.

[jademonkey]

No forearm pain for days! Miracle!

Press day went nicely, added 10 lbs and reduced a rep and a set. Dumbbell bench got 2 more reps. Good pump on low to high flys. NO FOREARM TENDON PAIN!!!

Today deadlift. All sumo, really wanna get form dialed.
Added 10 lbs to top set: 465x1
Tried again for 415x5 and got it. Felt quite crushing and vision was a bit wonky. Pretty tough, but not much upper back rounding.
Added 10 lbs to double-pause set: 355x3 (3" pause below knee on concentric and eccentric)
Added 10 lbs to burnout set: 265x10

I like working up in weight to warm up, then working down in weight, cuz I don't have to put all the plates away at one time lol! After 265x10 I take off the little plates and do a set of pendlay rows at 225, then drop weight a bit more and do some strict bent over rows down to 135. Then I only have 2 plates to put away!

Got a lot of accessories in. Had lots of energy somehow. Again no forearm pain. Maybe a small tad during cheaty pendlay rows, but quite minimal.

[Millz12323]

Glad to hear the forearms feeling better! Do you think it's related to the changes in grip you made in your squat?

Strong presses too man. I saw you did an 8x8 the other day. Was that at 145 pounds dude? Around here it's rare to see a anyone press more than 135 for a double. That's probably your strongest lift if that's right.

Got a video of how to you do these by any chance? I feel like I learn a lot from watching other people lift heavy things.

Got any performance related goals for 2020 year?

[jademonkey]

Glad to hear the forearms feeling better! Do you think it's related to the changes in grip you made in your squat?

Not sure, and it's way too soon to be so excited. But someone else mentioned low bar hurting their tendons, and it seemed to start around the time I started low bar, and came back around when I did my last max effort. Crossing my fingers I can get it to stay away by keeping vigilant focus on keeping the weight pulled into my back.

Strong presses too man. I saw you did an 8x8 the other day. Was that at 145 pounds dude? Around here it's rare to see a anyone press more than 135 for a double. That's probably your strongest lift if that's right.

Did 45x15 + 95x5 + 125x2 warm up, so only 125 for working sets. It's one lift that seems to have improved a lot with the 10x10 protocol though. Gonna aim for 135 7x7 next, and then 145 for 6x6.

Got a video of how to you do these by any chance? I feel like I learn a lot from watching other people lift heavy things.

Presses? No I don't video in the gym much. I like videoing PRs though for the social media, where maybe 4 people actually care. I do presses with slightly wider grip than vertical forearms at the bottom, same width as bench press actually. I've read vertical forearms is "correct", but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Got any performance related goals for 2020 year?

I never set yearly goals. I just like focusing on performance all the time. I've gravitated toward squat bench dead focus, cuz I like the simplicity. Got competing in the back of my mind but it seems like a hassle for what I can test on my own in the gym. And being a highly competitive person, I see no excuse to compete with an 1100 lb total lol.

[Millz12323]

Not sure, and it's way too soon to be so excited. But someone else mentioned low bar hurting their tendons, and it seemed to start around the time I started low bar, and came back around when I did my last max effort. Crossing my fingers I can get it to stay away by keeping vigilant focus on keeping the weight pulled into my back.

I can definitely see that. Here's to hoping it goes away. Nothing worse than nagging pain when you're trying to get swole. If I don't set up the right away I can feel cranking on my elbow tendons when I squat. You and I both need to get that squat up. I think our bench to squat ratio is Kind of laughable. I think most people should squat 100 pounds more than they bench.

Did 45x15 + 95x5 + 125x2 warm up, so only 125 for working sets. It's one lift that seems to have improved a lot with the 10x10 protocol though. Gonna aim for 135 7x7 next, and then 145 for 6x6.

Ah I see. Strong isht either way 💪. It's kind of similar to what I'm doing for my supplemental work lately. I'm running Boring but big right now and it has a 5x10 as back down work which isn't too far off from an 8x8. I find my triceps fatigue when doing the higher volume vs just not being strong enough through sticking point on heavy work.

Presses? No I don't video in the gym much. I like videoing PRs though for the social media, where maybe 4 people actually care. I do presses with slightly wider grip than vertical forearms at the bottom, same width as bench press actually. I've read vertical forearms is "correct", but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Eh.. I think "correct" is really subjective and will vary from person to person. In my opinion "correct" is where you feel the strongest, and can make the most progress without any pain. For me personally.... I'm making a tonne of progress treating my heavy work as a bunch of singles on this lift. Been adding 5 pounds to my 5rm for 11 months straight with this style.

Here's a video in case you're interested

https://imgur.com/gallery/RoWUD1x

I never set yearly goals. I just like focusing on performance all the time. I've gravitated toward squat bench dead focus, cuz I like the simplicity. Got competing in the back of my mind but it seems like a hassle for what I can test on my own in the gym. And being a highly competitive person, I see no excuse to compete with an 1100 lb total lol.

I'm in the same boat as you... In that I'm pretty focused on Strength lately.. Particularly on squat bench dead and OHP. I think it would be pretty fun to compete though, even with a lousy total. I'm trying to convince anyone from my gyms to do a meet with me this year. Have you checked the local meet stats? You wouldn't come in last place if you competed and if you're anything like me, love chatting with other strong AF folks.

[jademonkey]

I can definitely see that. Here's to hoping it goes away. Nothing worse than nagging pain when you're trying to get swole. If I don't set up the right away I can feel cranking on my elbow tendons when I squat. You and I both need to get that squat up. I think our bench to squat ratio is Kind of laughable. I think most people should squat 100 pounds more than they bench.

If we include our own weight in the squat it's not AS bad...
10x10 squatting seemed to help a lot for me. Started with a 315 max and finished with 335 after not doing anything over 225 for like 2 months. I think it's a neural thing. I can bench and dead full gas. Squatting just feels like I can't push harder but my muscles don't feel like they are working full gas.

Eh.. I think "correct" is really subjective and will vary from person to person. In my opinion "correct" is where you feel the strongest, and can make the most progress without any pain. For me personally.... I'm making a tonne of progress treating my heavy work as a bunch of singles on this lift. Been adding 5 pounds to my 5rm for 11 months straight with this style.

Here's a video in case you're interested

https://imgur.com/gallery/RoWUD1x

That was more than my last 1rm. I really wanna get to the point where I load up the bar and the onlookers are expecting a squat lol. It'll be a while...
What's up with all the footwork before pressing? I tend to brace before even taking the bar off the rack, step back, step together, press. Like I'm afraid I'll get tired if I take too long.

I'm in the same boat as you... In that I'm pretty focused on Strength lately.. Particularly on squat bench dead and OHP. I think it would be pretty fun to compete though, even with a lousy total. I'm trying to convince anyone from my gyms to do a meet with me this year. Have you checked the local meet stats? You wouldn't come in last place if you competed and if you're anything like me, love chatting with other strong AF folks.

I looked at one last year and would have come in second to last, with a laughably last squat, a respectable bench and a not-last deadlift. I expect my squat to get a bit better as I move into more heavy work though. Bench as well, though I don't think I'll hit 3 plates before my next cut Shooting for 365/300/500 before cutting.

[Millz12323]

If we include our own weight in the squat it's not AS bad...
10x10 squatting seemed to help a lot for me. Started with a 315 max and finished with 335 after not doing anything over 225 for like 2 months. I think it's a neural thing. I can bench and dead full gas. Squatting just feels like I can't push harder but my muscles don't feel like they are working full gas.

I'm really stuck with a mid 300's squat for about a year. I've run different styles for a while to see if I can add more weight but just seems pretty stuck. My form however has been improving lately. I tried high volume with lower intensity, lower volume with higher intensity. I've played with squatting once a week or twice a week for segments. I've been doing my main squat work at 6am on saturday mornings for along time though. I'm going to try and move it to mid week during the daytime instead.

I know what you mean though with the neural thing on squats. I feel the same way. The last time I made any progress on it was linear progression stronglifts where every rep was a grind and trying to add weight every week until failure. I'm not really looking forward to going back to this approach though.

That was more than my last 1rm. I really wanna get to the point where I load up the bar and the onlookers are expecting a squat lol. It'll be a while...
What's up with all the footwork before pressing? I tend to brace before even taking the bar off the rack, step back, step together, press. Like I'm afraid I'll get tired if I take too long.

It's funny you say that. I think about this a lot... where I want to be get to a point where people expect a squat.

With regards to the footwork.... Have you ever done this exact movement but seated? When I did.. I noticed that I was MUCH stronger, and the weight felt way lighter when seated. Just because I was sitting on something solid instead of standing. Which made me realize the more stable I can get my hips, knees and back, the lighter the weight will feel to press. The footwork is my attempt at finding a stable position.

The bottom position doesn't feel like I could get tired there. I'm just resting the weight on my upper pecs mostly. While trying to set my back and hips.

Also as a note... I don't do any seated pressing because it doesn't agree with my neck and causes spasms so do only at your own risk.

I looked at one last year and would have come in second to last, with a laughably last squat, a respectable bench and a not-last deadlift. I expect my squat to get a bit better as I move into more heavy work though. Bench as well, though I don't think I'll hit 3 plates before my next cut Shooting for 365/300/500 before cutting.

Not last is a win in my books . I mean I'll justify it in my head as the other dudes have probably taken gear at some point and I'm a lifetime natty. My intention is to bulk until a 315 bench and a 225 strict press but I'll cut myself off once if I reach 205 pounds.

[jademonkey]

Squats: Race ya to 405? You're way ahead but it'll give me something to shoot for after I beat my brother to 500 deadlift lol.

OHP: Never tried seated - I imagine I'd be much weaker seated but who knows without trying? I tend to feel just fine with a step-step. Like on squats, I like minimal steps.

[Millz12323]

Squats: Race ya to 405? You're way ahead but it'll give me something to shoot for after I beat my brother to 500 deadlift lol.

OHP: Never tried seated - I imagine I'd be much weaker seated but who knows without trying? I tend to feel just fine with a step-step. Like on squats, I like minimal steps.

Great idea for the race to 405!

The footwork I do on the OHP is far excessive. I have the same problem when I squat it takes me forever to set my feet. Wish I could just step step and be set.

Give seated barbell a try one time if your gym has the right equipment for it.

[jademonkey]

Took an extra day off to do a Sunday redwoods hike with my wife. Was super windy with downed branches everywhere. A mile into the hike there's a crack above us, I glance up, dash forward 20 feet and yell at my wife "MOVE MOVE MOVE!" She stumbled forward and tripped just as the branch landed 2 feet behind her. We were then told by some other hikers that a couple hikers got hit and taken out via ambulance. We turned up the take the ridge route back to the car and spent the afternoon relaxing in the park near our home.

Rack pulls felt strong today with the extra rest. Used a different bar that was a tad slick, so had to really focus on a tight grip.
Then tried this new thing where I do sets of sumo with low weight (only 225) and alternate reeealllly slooow reps with super speedy reps. Don't know what to think of it yet, but wanna get more work with sumo in.
Incline dumbbell press felt strong.
Did landmine belt squats again. I really like the feel of these. They are a bit weird especially on the first rep. Hard to say what the weight on my legs is with the leverage thing. Did 75x12 / 85x12 / 95x12
Ran out of time so skipped accessories.

[jademonkey]

Back day, low rep mode on pull ups. Single arm assist, 6 reps. Reduced assist for the last couple sets. Felt good - good form and no pain.
Dumbbell rows. Dumbbells only go to 100 so I put a 20 lb sandbag on my arm. Couple sets of 120x12, then a final 100x20. Weird my left hand held on the whole set, but my right hand lost grip during the 20 rep set.

[jademonkey]

Squat day.
Added 10 lbs and kept the reps and sets: (255x10)x6
Last couple sets were tough. Got hella sore left quad - think I was pushing harder with that side. I also feel better with left leg split squats. Last sets I really focused on even weight distribution and it got a bit better. 265 next week. We'll see if I feel like 10 reps again.

Oh and my stretching I've been doing lately must be paying off, cuz I tapped the safeties a few times I was going so deep. May have to lower the safeties a notch next time.

[jademonkey]

Press day. Added 10 lbs, only got 2 sets of 7 at 135, then reduced reps. Finished with a few reps at 145.
Sticking with dumbbell bench press for now cuz I'm improving weekly. Added a rep to each set: 80s for 9, 9, and 11 reps
Working up on reps for low to high cable flys. 15 slow & controlled reps with 15 lbs each side gave pretty damn good pump.
Still working with the 15s on lateral raises. I like to slowly lower them to 45 degrees (not all the way down) to make it harder.
Did a set of 30 bar dips and a couple sets of 20 bench dips. The bench dips felt harder, maybe due to being tight. I should keep these in for a while.
Got a nice long full body stretch afterwards. Having extra time is a nice benefit of weekend workouts.

[jademonkey]

Sumo deadlift PR!
Saturday night I stayed up til 3:30 am out at "Midnight Mystery Ride", a bike party ride that starts at midnight and is mostly just hanging out drinking beer and smoking weed.
Felt blah the next morning warming up deadlift, but got in the groove, and when 475 came up so quick and "easy" I decided to go for 499. Was a kg bar and no room for the extra 1 lb plate so I left it a pound short. Next time I should probably load the 65s or 100s on first. I'll try and work back up to a solid 504 over the next month.
Backed off with 405x5, 10 lbs less than last week because I was concerned about PR fatigue, but it felt good.
Added 10 lbs to my paused set for 365x3, and to my 10 rep set for 275x10.

Legs and back a bit sore today but not excessively. Got good sleep as well.

[jademonkey]

Took it a bit easier on rack pulls today.
Added a couple reps to incline dumbbell press.
Failed last set of landmine belt squats. Quads still sore from deadlifts.

[Millz12323]

Pretty wild to get that PR after a night out like that. There's definitely more in the tank on a fresh night sleep without alcohol in the system.

[jademonkey]

Pretty wild to get that PR after a night out like that. There's definitely more in the tank on a fresh night sleep without alcohol in the system.

Probably a bit more, but at 35 I can't handle getting trashed anymore. It was more like 6 drinks over 6 hours, a few tokes here and there, and lots of water to stay hydrated. Also I slept til noon. But yeah I was definitely surprised when I felt good after warming up.

[Millz12323]

Probably a bit more, but at 35 I can't handle getting trashed anymore. It was more like 6 drinks over 6 hours, a few tokes here and there, and lots of water to stay hydrated. Also I slept til noon. But yeah I was definitely surprised when I felt good after warming up.

Sounds really fun actually.

I'm updating my training log again just in case you wanted to follow along to my road to that 405 squat. Going to try and upload some training videos if I'm not feeling awkward about it.

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...7172201&page=5

[jademonkey]

Sounds really fun actually.

I'm updating my training log again just in case you wanted to follow along to my road to that 405 squat. Going to try and upload some training videos if I'm not feeling awkward about it.

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...7172201&page=5

I'll try and remember to check in on your thread from time to time

[jademonkey]

Bench press day. Getting frustrated with bench. I shouldn't really, I just started medium rep work. But started doing sets at 235x6 and just randomly decided to switch to singles after the 3rd set. I also tried pausing for the first time. Did 3 paused singles at 255, one at 225, and 185x6 with pause at top and bottom. The pauses really seem to cause a lot of fatigue. I like it, I may try and keep singles in here. Haven't really trained lower than triples on bench and squat, and figure it's probably time to add singles on bench. Squat is still improving alright without singles.

I really want to move bench to the number one spot on OHP day instead of dumbbell bench press after standing overhead press. I feel I could still do with more frequency and total volume. But dumbbell bench is still improving pretty steady with basic double progression, and overhead press is also improving so I kinda don't wanna mess with that day. And I really need to focus on squat first. So I'll leave my push day schedule alone for now. Also might not wanna stress the forearms too much as they are finally feeling better.

Had more mental focus on Bulgarian split squats today, but they still burn like hell, and I hate them. For some weird reason my right leg is weak on these so I always start with right leg.
135x8e / 165x10e / 175x9e

Arnold press still doing them nice and slow, added 2 reps to the final set, will go for straight 9s next time.
(50e x 8)x3 / 50e x 10

Decline pullovers. These really hit my chest so I do them on push day.

Lateral raises I really am liking going just above horizontal and then only down to 45 degrees, slow with locked arms. Working with the 15s. I always get a few extra reps on bench day as opposed to press day.

Dumbbell carries. I can't seem to increase my time on these. 2 sets of 90 seconds with the 45s.

Overhead shrugs. Really awkward move. Such an incredibly short range of motion I have trouble knowing if I'm even doing anything.

[jademonkey]

Good long kitchen sink workout today. Squat day but tomorrow I'm camping so I added push.

Squat I didn't wanna do another 6 sets of 10 so added weight each set today:
265x10 / 275x8 / 285x6 / 295x4 / 305x2 /315x1

Barbell rows as usual

Alternated kettlebell swings (stupid light, just for practice as I've never done these) with the usual RDL. Switched up RDL to do a few lighter explosive sets and a couple heavier but still high rep sets (top set 295x8)

Added dumbbell bench press and did (85 each x10)x2 and (90 each x 10)x2, quick reps instead of my usual slow eccentric.

Supersetted a bit of OHP with barbell hack squat at the end.

[jademonkey]

Good sumo deadlift workout yesterday.
Warm up: 45x10 / 135x5 / 225x5 / 315x3 / 405x1
Backed off a tad this week but added a few reps:
2 singles at 455
405x6
345x4 pause below knee on the way up and down
275x12

225x5 pendlay row
175x12 / 175x10 / 135x15 bent over row

[jademonkey]

A couple sets from squat day:





And my attempt at kettlebell swings, just trying to figure out proper form:

[Millz12323]

How did you feel about the kettle bells? I see a lot of people who highly recommend them but I've never tried em.

Good squat work. Do you ever wear a belt or sleeves to squat? Most people get quite a bit out of the belt.

[jademonkey]

How did you feel about the kettle bells? I see a lot of people who highly recommend them but I've never tried em.

Good squat work. Do you ever wear a belt or sleeves to squat? Most people get quite a bit out of the belt.

Dunno about kettlebell swings. I guess I might form an opinion if I keep doing them for a few months.
Never tried a belt, don't want to unless it helps my unbelted squat.

[Millz12323]

Never tried a belt, don't want to unless it helps my unbelted squat.

Yeah makes sense... It's kind of hard to say if it's helpful for unbelted squat. I'd like to think it is but don't have any data or evidence to support that.

I think it's normal to get About an extra 5% out of it.

[jademonkey]

Last few days:

Wednesday was rack pull day but I changed it to another squat first day seeing as I'm close to my goal of 500 deadlift and next aiming for 4 plate squat. Modeled my squat workout like what I've been doing for deadlift: a single or two, a backoff set of 5, back of further and do a paused set, back off further and do a high rep set for speed and form. Not sure if it makes sense to do so much rep variety in a single workout but I liked it for deadlift so why not experiment a bit. Did:
315x1 / 315x1 / 285x5 / 235x3 with a pause lightly touching the safeties / 195x10 quick
Added 3 sets of rack pulls and some dumbbell incline press.

Yesterday (Thursday) was back day. Started with assisted one arm pull ups, but my left tendon started acting up again so I cut it at 3 reps. Still have grip failure in my right hand for 100x20 dumbbell rows. Idk why my left hand can hold on but my right loses it.

Bench day today, also similar style to squat and deadlift day:
265x1 pause / 265x1 pause / 240x5 no pause / 195x7 with pause at top and bottom / 175x15 quick for form and speed / 135x5 with rerack in between and trying to get that first rep quicker. I descend REALLY slow on the first rep of every set and had to go all the way down to 135 to get any kind of speed on that first rep.
Did the usual exercises today: split squats (I hate these so much), Arnold press, decline pullovers, lateral raises.

Left forearm tendon acting up again on bench press. I may have aggravated it with the squat singles on Wednesday. Gotta keep that bar pulled into my back tighter.

[jademonkey]

Did the same squat workout as the 22nd, but added 10 lbs.
275x10 / 285x8 / 295x6 / 305x4 / 315x2 /325x1
Felt a bit more even on the legs but still maybe favoring the left a tad.
Tendon felt ok for most of these. Slight pain towards the higher weight sets. Trying to keep from pushing the weight into my hands, especially during re-rack.
Did the usual rows. Tried some more kettlebell swings between RDL. Like them so far.
Even got some accessories in at the end.

[jademonkey]

First proper press day since the 15th. Kept 135 on the bar and got a couple extra sets of 7 before reducing reps. Debating adding weight or reps next week. I may just spend time here and get hella good at 135 before adding 10 lbs. Or I could go for sixes at 142.5.
Got bored of the 80s after the first set so grabbed the 90s for dumbbell bench press today but did quick reps instead. slowed it down on the last set. 80e x10 / 90e x10 / 90e x7 slow
I need more practice kneeing up these heavy dumbbells. Goal is to master the gym dumbbell set that goes up to 100s.

Tendon felt fine today.
Deadlift day tomorrow if I get up early enough. I might have to brave the after work crowd though. Plan to add 10 lbs to all sets, except I may go for 265x20 at the end in honor of brutus0 thread. We'll see, sounds pretty tough.