Let's chase new totals for the end of 2020!

[CW47]

That looked @8 at most mate, got another 10lbs there for sure.

Yeah, there was at the very least another 5lbs there. You may be right about another 10. It's WILD to think that I could've hit 165 with the mini band after maxing out at 165 on bench WITHOUT the mini band just 3 weeks ago. Feels good man.

[CW47]

Max Effort Lower day today. I did a deficit Sumo Deadlift. Don't think I've ever done this before. I was cruising until I got to 305, where my hands started to slip for some reason. I put on straps and tried again. This was a sloppy lift. No doubt about that. But it went up. It's the first time I've really gone all out on a deadlift since tweaking my back a couple of months ago, and it held up really well, which is obviously encouraging. And hey, I finally found a use for my 35 pound bumper plates - they're exactly 2 inches thick, which makes them perfect for standing on to do deficit deadlifts.

Deficit Sumo Deadlift: 305 pounds x 1 rep

[WolfRose7]

^^
Good efforting on the pull, knees look quite forward of shins is what strikes me as slightly off with the set up, may have had an impact on getting it moving.

I went slightly above rpe today to hit my first 120 raw, partial nudity warning for the below

Spoiler!

[ECGordyn]

^^
Good efforting on the pull, knees look quite forward of shins is what strikes me as slightly off with the set up, may have had an impact on getting it moving.

I went slightly above rpe today to hit my first 120 raw, partial nudity warning for the below

Spoiler!

Very smooth 120 there. Think you'll break 130+ before year's end for sure.

[WolfRose7]

Very smooth 120 there. Think you'll break 130+ before year's end for sure.

Hope so. Have my max in the 123-125 range atm.
I would like 135 by new years, goal is 140 my Feb 20th

[Camarija]

F*ck Side Planks Rant

They're intense. If you're not tight, you're doing it wrong. After a long session of staying tight... why more tightness??!?

They take forever. And then you have to change sides. Forever x2. That's double infinity!!!

That nagging shoulder issue you might have? Abra Kadabra! IT'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! WHY??? BECAUSE YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR WEIGHT ON IT FOR INFINITY INTENSITY FOR ??REASONS??

/rant

I can't wait until week 5 of the program where I can drop them.

[WolfRose7]

F*ck Side Planks Rant

They're intense. If you're not tight, you're doing it wrong. After a long session of staying tight... why more tightness??!?

They take forever. And then you have to change sides. Forever x2. That's double infinity!!!

That nagging shoulder issue you might have? Abra Kadabra! IT'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! WHY??? BECAUSE YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR WEIGHT ON IT FOR INFINITY INTENSITY FOR ??REASONS??

/rant

I can't wait until week 5 of the program where I can drop them.

Just replace them. It's only a core acc

[CW47]

^^
Good efforting on the pull, knees look quite forward of shins is what strikes me as slightly off with the set up, may have had an impact on getting it moving.

I went slightly above rpe today to hit my first 120 raw

That was super smooth for being above RPE. I know looks can be deceiving, but if I was forced to guess how much more you could lift judging off of that video, I'd swear you have another 10kg in you.

Good call on the knees. I definitely was not able to get my body into a good position at the bottom. I think it's almost entirely down to poor hip mobility. That give me one more thing to work on...

F*ck Side Planks Rant

They're intense. If you're not tight, you're doing it wrong. After a long session of staying tight... why more tightness??!?

They take forever. And then you have to change sides. Forever x2. That's double infinity!!!

That nagging shoulder issue you might have? Abra Kadabra! IT'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! WHY??? BECAUSE YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR WEIGHT ON IT FOR INFINITY INTENSITY FOR ??REASONS??

/rant

I can't wait until week 5 of the program where I can drop them.

Amen Brother! You'll get no argument from me, lol.
You could definitely just swap them out like Wolf said. On the other hand, I feel like it's good to do stuff that sucks every now and then. I've always felt like it's a slippery slope once I start eliminating exercises I don't like. But that's just me.

[Camarija]

Just replace them. It's only a core acc

Common semse may save me yet, but the war on side planks is still on! >:-D

Spoiler!

yeah I'll try out ab wheel rollouts and hanging leg raises, figure out what works for me. Just felt like being histrionic.

Amen Brother! You'll get no argument from me, lol.

[WolfRose7]

That was super smooth for being above RPE. I know looks can be deceiving, but if I was forced to guess how much more you could lift judging off of that video, I'd swear you have another 10kg in you.

Good call on the knees. I definitely was not able to get my body into a good position at the bottom. I think it's almost entirely down to poor hip mobility. That give me one more thing to work on...
.

Cheers man, I definitely did not have 10kg more haha, was just a very good @9 rep for me.
Will have 130 pretty soon regardless.

yeah deficit sumo is nasty haha, probably good practice though, I imagine you'll figure out a good position with a few tries at it.

[ECGordyn]

Wolf, what's your programming like since you finished the RTS adaptive templates? Are you in a volume block with some occasional heavy singles, or what?

[AlexSays]

gahh really need to finish off this cut if not to submit embarrassing numbers by December.

Time is moving too quickly, we should do another challenge thread for first quarter of 2021

[WolfRose7]

Wolf, what's your programming like since you finished the RTS adaptive templates? Are you in a volume block with some occasional heavy singles, or what?

more or less, running Volume work for strength with Hype movements in the mix as well.
Pretty much ES, I change **** when I want too but mostly keep it the same week to week.


Day 1

Bench 1@8, -20% for 8 sets of 5
Squat 1@7-8 -20% for 6 sets of 5
Cg Hooklying Bench 4 Sets of 10-15 @8-9


Day 2
Conv Deads, 1@7-8 -15% for 6 sets of 3
2ct Medium grip Bench 3@8-9, 6 sets of 6@7
Close Stance High bar, 70% amrap, -8% for 2 sets of 12

Day 3
High Bar with Belt 1@7-8, -15% for 6 sets of 3
T-Shirt Pause Bench 1@7-8 -15% for 5 sets of 3
Larsen Bench 4 Sets of 10-15 @8-9

Day 4
Pause Deadlifts 5 sets of 5 @6-7
Low Pin Bench 1@7-8 -17% for sets of 4
Nordics, band assisted

Add a load of band laterals and myo barbell curls most days.
Needs more ham/glute/abs but it's not to bad for now.

[ECGordyn]

more or less, running Volume work for strength with Hype movements in the mix as well.
Pretty much ES, I change **** when I want too but mostly keep it the same week to week.


Day 1

Bench 1@8, -20% for 8 sets of 5
Squat 1@7-8 -20% for 6 sets of 5
Cg Hooklying Bench 4 Sets of 10-15 @8-9


Day 2
Conv Deads, 1@7-8 -15% for 6 sets of 3
2ct Medium grip Bench 3@8-9, 6 sets of 6@7
Close Stance High bar, 70% amrap, -8% for 2 sets of 12

Day 3
High Bar with Belt 1@7-8, -15% for 6 sets of 3
T-Shirt Pause Bench 1@7-8 -15% for 5 sets of 3
Larsen Bench 4 Sets of 10-15 @8-9

Day 4
Pause Deadlifts 5 sets of 5 @6-7
Low Pin Bench 1@7-8 -17% for sets of 4
Nordics, band assisted

Add a load of band laterals and myo barbell curls most days.
Needs more ham/glute/abs but it's not to bad for now.

Agreed it does need more ham/glute work. What about a DL variation on day 3? Good looking setup though.
8x5 bench, mother of god.

[WolfRose7]

Agreed it does need more ham/glute work. What about a DL variation on day 3? Good looking setup though.
8x5 bench, mother of god.

Yeah I might trial Light high rep RDLs or good mornings on day 3. If I stop being lazy enough to do it lol.

[MyEgoProblem]

Agreed it does need more ham/glute work. What about a DL variation on day 3? Good looking setup though.
8x5 bench, mother of god.

8*5@70% are easy man youre only looking @5-7rpe xD

I actually don't agree with the need to program more ass work.. Already 6lifts per week which hammer the Glutes. Unless it's abd based gpp

Everyone can do more band hammy curls tho! But I've only just got him curling to help fix his bicep tweaks on bench so Im not holding my breath on that... XD

[ECGordyn]

8*5@70% are easy man youre only looking @5-7rpe xD

Yeah it's easy, but it's tedious. There are quicker ways to get the same stimulus I think. Don't mind me, carry on.

[WolfRose7]

Yeah it's easy, but it's tedious. There are quicker ways to get the same stimulus I think. Don't mind me, carry on.

Hypertrophy wise, probably quicker methods, though most would generate more fatigue.
For the amount of clean strength work you get in I think It's actually hard to beat, I also don't mind spending 30m on a movement tbf

[MyEgoProblem]

20mins tops yo. Including warmups

[jademonkey]

My gym is on thin ice. They got fined $1000 last week when some inspector found 5 people working out inside. "Inside" is a HUGE space. Probably safer for 5 people to be in that space than in the small outside area. But of course as usual the government doesn't give a s*** about safety, discretion, or individual responsibility. Only their rules. They could get bigger fines in the future. Not sure if they intend to go to court.

I'm liking working on strict curl. I've added 20 lbs to my max in 8 days. Makes me wonder if I should add singles to other isolations like lateral dumbbell raises.

[EliKoehn]

Hey guys, we had a random ice storm on Monday and most of my city has been out of power and confined indoors until about yesterday for the most people, so this is regrettably my first lifting session of the week.

I did some other stuff too, but here's me almost pulling 5 plates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-IsMIf9SNg

[Camarija]

Anyone who ran the Calgary Barbell 8 Week Program:

I'm averaging about +3 hours per session, did you notice your sessions lasting that long? I don't think it's a problem for me, but maybe I'm taking too many warm-ups or rest between sets?

I'm loving their 8 week program right now, always feels like I have gas in the tank, and my form weaknesses are getting eliminated one by one.

Example today:


Light weight but form feels substantially better than what I was doing before. Video below of before:


Also, I never really barbell bench pressed before this program. I always opted for weighted dips, and now I'm at a point where I'm getting comfortable with the form.




I'm loving Pause Squats too! Not in the video, but after this session I learned that tightening up my back, centering my weight, keeping bar path perfectly vertical up and down, makes squatting incrementally easier. My last set felt like RPE 4 as a result of form tweaks, but unfortunately not captured on video.

I did some other stuff too, but here's me almost pulling 5 plates:

Nice attempt d00d!

Do you have a program in mind you're planning on running to ramp up for the big 3?

[ECGordyn]

Anyone who ran the Calgary Barbell 8 Week Program:

I'm averaging about +3 hours per session, did you notice your sessions lasting that long? I don't think it's a problem for me, but maybe I'm taking too many warm-ups or rest between sets?

I'm loving their 8 week program right now, always feels like I have gas in the tank, and my form weaknesses are getting eliminated one by one.

90 min to 2 hours a session for me for all 3 cycles I ran it in the past, from the minute I started until the minute I finished. Longer if I did extra ab work, as in in my first cycle.

[ECGordyn]

Hey guys, we had a random ice storm on Monday and most of my city has been out of power and confined indoors until about yesterday for the most people, so this is regrettably my first lifting session of the week.

I did some other stuff too, but here's me almost pulling 5 plates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-IsMIf9SNg

You would have made that with better glute and lat engagement. Looks like a lumbar dominant pull, which is harder to lock out. Get your starting position tighter, shove those scapula down your back, screw your arms into your torso with your lats.

See this Gibbs vid, around 12:05

[WolfRose7]

You would have made that with better glute and lat engagement. Looks like a lumbar dominant pull, which is harder to lock out. Get your starting position tighter, shove those scapula down your back, screw your arms into your torso with your lats.

See this Gibbs vid, around 12:05

[]

Agreed, also a bit more positive shin angle and focusing on keeping that push into the floor going not just pull.

Got loads more in you I think Eli

[MyEgoProblem]

It's kind of awkward switching to a flat back pull. Some never make it.

Yes, it makes lockout easier but can also really cut your horsepower breaking the floor. Especially if you have built a good chunk of strength at those joint angles.

Id look into paused deads... 2ct 1" off the floor with a Completely flat back allowing no rounding as your main deadlift assistance work.

Possibly some dead stance good mornings for size and iso strength.. And if you care enough, to limit your comp pulls to loads where you can keep mostly flat.


https://youtu.be/C4XZs8GxMf4

[WolfRose7]

Continuing my bad habit of only posting Bench

after my main work today, decided to throw on 100 for a TnG amrap for fun, just barely scraped 10

[ECGordyn]

Moving into a slightly heavier block now.
Still a volume block, but these are weights I haven't touched for at least 5 weeks. Squat feels good, bench feels tough, but some tricep work 2 days ago might have had some effect on that.

[WolfRose7]

Pretty solid, looks ike an @7.5-8 ish on each

[CW47]

I'm loving their 8 week program right now, always feels like I have gas in the tank, and my form weaknesses are getting eliminated one by one.

Great, great progress. The improvement is really noticeable.

after my main work today, decided to throw on 100 for a TnG amrap for fun, just barely scraped 10

Looking good man. Nice little grind on the final rep.

Moving into a slightly heavier block now.

Super smooth and well controlled for not touching weights this heavy in a while.


Good work all around guys. Looks like pretty much everyone is on target to set some solid PR's before the end of the year.