Calling anyone interested in a friendly strength competition for this spring/summer

[EliKoehn]

Good bench Wolf.

Visited my parents' house today to hang out with my little brother, playing Master of Orion 2 and listen to some music, and decided to attempt a 3 plate bench again randomly on the way there. Got it easily! No grind whatsoever and I very well might have had another in the tank. Felt awesome. I'm 10-15 pounds lighter than when I got it last, too.

The bad news is that my parents found out after I visited that they have covid... so I'll be working from home this week. My great grandmother is a centenarian and was asymptomatic so my dad has favorable genes and my mom seems fine a few days in, so I'm not especially concerned, but you never know...

[CW47]

Wolf - Nice benching. The single looked fantastic.
Jade - It's a marathon, not a race. Don't let the temporary setback get to you.
Eli - Congrats on the 3 plate bench. That's awesome. Stay safe.

Been still super busy getting settled into the new house. It's amazing how much stuff there is to do. Got in a workout today very late this evening.

High Bar Squat
225 pounds x 1
245 pounds x Fail
155 pounds x 3 reps (1 1/4 reps)
225 felt tough but still moved reasonably smoothly. Definitely did not expect to fail at 245, but that's what happened. I did my backoff work based upon the 225 top rep. I saw a video from Sebastian Oreb (Australian Strength Coach) on Youtube over the weekend where he talked about 1 1/4 rep high bar squats. His explanations/reasonings behind this exercise all made perfect sense, and lined up with why I'm doing high bar squats in the first place. So I decided to give them a shot. To me it makes more sense not to do them with near max work, so the singles I did were normal reps. The warmups and backoff sets were done as 1 1/4 reps though. You essentially go to normal depth, come up to just above parallel (1/4 rep), descend back down to normal depth and then come all the way up. Gonna stick with these for a while and see how they work out. I also have paused squats in the rotation this time around, and rather than pausing them at the bottom I will pause them at about the quarter rep height on the way up. The reasoning behind this is that it will have me pausing right at my sticking point, and will hopefully help me get stronger in that portion of the lift.

[WolfRose7]

Cheers guys.

Grats on the Bench Eli, I definitely won't be matching it this block. Though maybe this year potentially.

And sounds like solid protocols CW

[CW47]

Benching 3 plates is but a dream for me. Doubt I'll get there based upon my history of struggles with the lift, but crazier things have happened I guess. I'll celebrate it vicariously through you guys.

Speaking of benching...
September 21, 2021: Bench Press
175 pounds x 1 rep
125 pounds - 3 sets x 3 (1 1/4) reps
175 was definitely my max for today. It's probably the slowest rep I've ever completed. Hadn't intended on pushing it to the absolute limit today...
Did 1 1/4 on some warmups and on the backoff work again today. I'll be doing these in a more limited capacity on Bench than on Squat. One of the early benefits I'm noticing is that it's keeping me more mindful of maintaining good position and control at the bottom portion of the lifts. This can only be a good thing.

Workout space is coming together slowly but surely. I'm setup pretty well at the moment and don't have anything else that really needs to be done anytime soon. I've got more light added and the lighting overall is pretty good right now. Also got some more peg board hung and got most of my stuff set into it already. Still plan to get a few more hooks/holders to hang up the remaining pieces of equipment, but there's no urgency to get this done. I also still have a full wall open that could be a good place for a barbell rack at some point. It's starting to feel like home.

[WolfRose7]

Benching 3 plates is but a dream for me. Doubt I'll get there based upon my history of struggles with the lift, but crazier things have happened I guess. I'll celebrate it vicariously through you guys.

Speaking of benching...
September 20, 2021: Bench Press
175 pounds x 1 rep
125 pounds x 3 (1 1/4) reps
175 was definitely my max for today. It's probably the slowest rep I've ever completed. Hadn't intended on pushing it to the absolute limit today...
Did 1 1/4 on some warmups and on the backoff work again today. I'll be doing these in a more limited capacity on Bench than on Squat. One of the early benefits I'm noticing is that it's keeping me more mindful of maintaining good position and control at the bottom portion of the lifts. This can only be a good thing.

Workout space is coming together slowly but surely. I'm setup pretty well at the moment and don't have anything else that really needs to be done anytime soon. I've got more light added and the lighting overall is pretty good right now. Also got some more peg board hung and got most of my stuff set into it already. Still plan to get a few more hooks/holders to hang up the remaining pieces of equipment, but there's no urgency to get this done. I also still have a full wall open that could be a good place for a barbell rack at some point. It's starting to feel like home.

Nice work.
And home gym storage and light gains is awesome.
Hope to have a garage later this year with a proper set up.

Bench needs lots of work for me to move, luckily it's not hard to do a lot and recover.

4x frq, lots of high intensity work, lots of chest and tricep hype work too.
Some get away with less. But think a lot of people just don't do as much as they might need

[EliKoehn]

Thanks guys, regarding the bench. Feels awesome being able to get it on a casual attempt. Felt like there was a cruel barrier just beneath it for a long time... Don't give up and see how far you can get!

Quarantining and staying clear of the gym out of conscience, so it's calisthenics and my one 35lb dumbbell for the rest of the week, sadly.

Today: 101 total pullups, and 101 close grip push ups with a foot rest. The latter were super easy but I think it best to keep some kind of stimulus with presses:

A.S.
Pull Ups:
1, 3, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

CG Footrest Pushups:
1, 3, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

How do these pullups look? The door frame is a bit tight so I might not be as wide or vertical as would be ideal, but working with what I have... This set was ~@9 but I didn't want form deterioration or to lose strength for the rest of the workout going to failure.

[BeginnerGainz]

Thanks guys, regarding the bench. Feels awesome being able to get it on a casual attempt. Felt like there was a cruel barrier just beneath it for a long time... Don't give up and see how far you can get!

Quarantining and staying clear of the gym out of conscience, so it's calisthenics and my one 35lb dumbbell for the rest of the week, sadly.

Today: 101 total pullups, and 101 close grip push ups with a foot rest. The latter were super easy but I think it best to keep some kind of stimulus with presses:

A.S.
Pull Ups:
1, 3, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

CG Footrest Pushups:
1, 3, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

How do these pullups look? The door frame is a bit tight so I might not be as wide or vertical as would be ideal, but working with what I have... This set was ~@9 but I didn't want form deterioration or to lose strength for the rest of the workout going to failure.

Pushups are one of those things I feel everyone should do, regardless of how long they have been lifting.

[CW47]

Wolf - Yeah, I hear you on that. I'm trying to gradually ramp up bench work until I start progressing again.
Eli - Pullups look solid to me
BGainz - Agreed. I had weighted and/or banded pushups in my programming for quite a while. Probably need to cycle those back in again at some point.

September 22, 2021: Sumo Deadlift
365 pounds x 1 rep
255 pounds x 3 (1 1/4) reps

Stuck with the same protocols as the previous couple of workouts. Definitely feeling the strength come back now. 365 moved smoothly despite being out of position and not using a belt. Really didn't do a sufficient warmup and it showed (was in a time crunch). If you watch closely on the video you can probably notice that I never got into proper position at the bottom until the final rep of the backoff work.



Also, I finally got some pics of the new space today.

[CW47]

Hello? Hello... Hello! lol

Not going to do my full log in here every day, but here's some of what I've done in recent days...

Wide Grip Bench: 125 pounds 6 sets x 6 reps
Paused Squat (above parallel): 225 pounds x 3 reps
Paused Bench (3 count): 155 pounds x 2 reps and then some speed work at ~60%

Was carrying baby downstairs yesterday so I could watch him while I did my Deadlift workout. My socks slipped on the wood steps, and the rest was kind of a blur. I just remember realizing that I wouldn't be able to really break my fall since I was holding the baby and needed to protect him first and foremost (he was/is just fine, other than being a little scared). I Landed on my left knee at the bottom of the stairs and skinned it up pretty good. Got about a 3 inch diameter bruise on my right tricep (assume I hit it on the railing?). The real damage was to my left foot. I honestly don't even know what happened, but I'm thinking my right knee must have landed on my left foot. Got a nasty bruise that covers the entire inside of the foot and extends about halfway across the top of the foot. Swollen up pretty good as well. I got it X-rayed today, and should find out pretty quickly whether it's broken or just badly bruised.

So, looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of pressing and pulling for a while, lol. Got in a solid session of incline work today. I goofed on the initial rep at 155 and set the safeties too high. The bar hit them before reaching my chest, and totally took me by surprise. I compounded that error by continuing the lift after having it be at a dead stop, and totally fatigued myself. Did another full rep at that weight after adjusting the safeties, and it was at about a 9.5 RPE on this second attempt, so that was as high as I went for the day. Thought I would try doing backoff work at 70% for 3x3, but I felt done after the first set.

[EliKoehn]

Sorry about your injury CW... Glad it wasn't worse and that your kid wasn't hurt.

Plus, that deadlift looked awesome! No grind and I think you could have gotten 4, or close to it.

--

Still at home. More pullups.

5 x 8 @ bodyweight (~240 with clothes)

[WolfRose7]

Well, nice save Cw doesn't sound to bad considering. Hopefully nothing broken.


How long on the quarentine Eli?

Slight down week for me. But still super positive block overall, deads up slightly after slight downturn last week.

One week to go, if squat and Bench rebound slightly it will be fantastic, if not.. Still my best ES block by a way so far.

[EliKoehn]

Well, nice save Cw doesn't sound to bad considering. Hopefully nothing broken.


How long on the quarentine Eli?

Slight down week for me. But still super positive block overall, deads up slightly after slight downturn last week.

One week to go, if squat and Bench rebound slightly it will be fantastic, if not.. Still my best ES block by a way so far.

I'm still waiting on a result from the lab test as of Saturday. Was advised it would take 24-72 "business hours" which could mean more than a week, technically, I'm thinking. I've been home an entire week now. Missing the actual gym but I'll wait until I know whether or not I'm asymptomatic positive to go back.

[CW47]

Thanks Eli and Wolf.
Happy to know you've had a productive cycle Wolf. Figured you were due for a good run.
You'll be back in the gym soon enough Eli. Sucks to have to stay away, but I know you'll be pumped to get back at it, and you'll be right back on track quickly.

Been a really poor last 2 months for me for lifting. Moving threw me off big time. Also was fighting off a cold for at least 3 weeks. Got some good news today though - the X-ray results came in and there are no fractures. Felt significantly better today as well, so I'm expecting a pretty quick recovery. I'm definitely not ready to do deads or squats, so I'll focus on pressing until I'm more recovered.

Septemberr 28, 2021 - Larsen Press
155 pounds x 2 reps
125 pounds x 3 reps

I've been going into my workouts with a top weight in mind and then trying to set a rep max at that weight. Wanted to see where my Larsen Press is at relative to my paused bench. I'm actually surprised that it's slightly weaker. Overall, the lift/s felt very good today. The plan is to do some overhead pressing next, unless my foot improves drastically.

[EliKoehn]

Covid test came back negative and my family is fortunately mostly feeling better, so I headed back to the gym today.

Craving weight this time, and I think I'm due for more of an emphasis with it given the higher volume lately.

--

Deficit maintained

Flat Bench:
3 x 5 at 275

Barbell Curl:
1 x 5 at 115

Lateral Raise:
1 x 5 w/ 40s

The last rep of the bench was a real grind, but I kept my butt on the bench and completed the full range of motion. That final lateral raise, I'm not sure I'd properly count, however. I haven't benched 275 for consecutive fives since being under 240, so that's a promising sign of progress.

Tomorrow, squats or deadlifts. Eager for either and haven't decided yet.

[CW47]

Nice! Happy to hear that the family is doing well. Must have felt good to be back under some weight.

Did OHP today.
105 pounds x 3 reps
95 pounds x 4 reps

No issues with the foot today when doing this. It's still black and blue, swollen, and tender, but doesn't seem bothered by holding up extra weight as long as I'm not moving with it. I should be able to start squats and deads relatively soon I think. Will give it at least a few more days though before I attempt that.

Pressing went pretty well for me today. This was only the second time I've done a real OHP in the last 2 years, so I'm still reacclimating to the lift. Played around with grip width on the backoff work and it felt MUCH lighter than when I was ramping up. I'll have to remember that next time around.

[WolfRose7]

Good pressing lads.

No idea how you failed 140 recently Eli, must have been a very poor day if you can 5x5 125 after a week or more off.

My goal today is bw for 10@8, let's see if I make it

[EliKoehn]

Good pressing lads.

No idea how you failed 140 recently Eli, must have been a very poor day if you can 5x5 125 after a week or more off.

My goal today is bw for 10@8, let's see if I make it

I'm somewhat off track with a lot of information lately for whatever reason, but what are you referring to? I got a 3 plate bench last Monday on the first attempt, and didn't fail a major lift recently.

[WolfRose7]

I'm somewhat off track with a lot of information lately for whatever reason, but what are you referring to? I got a 3 plate bench last Monday on the first attempt, and didn't fail a major lift recently.

I know you hit it fine last Monday. I thought you worked up recently before that and missed. Unless that was someone else and I've gone mad lol



10@9, So nearly.

[WolfRose7]

Worked out with a buddy, bench only, pyramid up and then down.

Flat Bench:
225 x 10
245 x 8
245 x 8
275 x 5
295 x 1 (failure on second rep)
315 x 1 (negative only)
245 x 6
245 x 6
235 x 8
235 x 8
135 x 24 (AMRAP burnout)

Ah you didn't fail the 315 just neg only.
Still you defo have more than 295 x2 most days

[EliKoehn]

Ah you didn't fail the 315 just neg only.
Still you defo have more than 295 x2 most days

Good set! Looks like you've dialed down the arch somewhat. Was that on purpose?

And after incurring all of that fatigue, putting up 315 would be a whole different animal than merely warming up and doing it.. would you expect a long ramp up not to detract much? That was a lot of volume before the 295 set, but incidentally I've never benched it for more than 3 in any circumstance.

EDIT: Scratch that (well, partially), I haven't done 295 for more than 3, but on the first run of Candito, I did get 305 for a triple. Was 15 pounds heavier myself, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRxWLElor8

[WolfRose7]

Good set! Looks like you've dialed down the arch somewhat. Was that on purpose?

And after incurring all of that fatigue, putting up 315 would be a whole different animal than merely warming up and doing it.. would you expect a long ramp up not to detract much? That was a lot of volume before the 295 set, but incidentally I've never benched it for more than 3 in any circumstance.

EDIT: Scratch that (well, partially), I haven't done 295 for more than 3, but on the first run of Candito, I did get 305 for a triple. Was 15 pounds heavier myself, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRxWLElor8

Depends on the person and how quickly they fatigue intra session tbf.
Will vary a lot person to person.

And nah, the lack of solid arch was mostly wearing an awful t shirt, couldn't leg drive properly or I would have just slid straight off lol. So it's sort off halfway between comp and larsen.

[WolfRose7]

Good set! Looks like you've dialed down the arch somewhat. Was that on purpose?

And after incurring all of that fatigue, putting up 315 would be a whole different animal than merely warming up and doing it.. would you expect a long ramp up not to detract much? That was a lot of volume before the 295 set, but incidentally I've never benched it for more than 3 in any circumstance.

EDIT: Scratch that (well, partially), I haven't done 295 for more than 3, but on the first run of Candito, I did get 305 for a triple. Was 15 pounds heavier myself, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRxWLElor8

Depends on the person and how quickly they fatigue intra session tbf.
Will vary a lot person to person.

And nah, the lack of solid arch was mostly wearing an awful t shirt, couldn't leg drive properly or I would have just slid straight off lol. So it's sort off halfway between comp and larsen.


Good set that, decent spot too

[EliKoehn]

Depends on the person and how quickly they fatigue intra session tbf.
Will vary a lot person to person.

And nah, the lack of solid arch was mostly wearing an awful t shirt, couldn't leg drive properly or I would have just slid straight off lol. So it's sort off halfway between comp and larsen.


Good set that, decent spot too

Thanks.

I dunno. In my experience, ramping up takes a lot of strength with it and attempting a max or going back down at the same volume. However, I am used to training linearly in the same session, choosing a weight and seeing how many even sets of a certain number I can get.

Today's workout was just deadlifting because I was meeting someone afterwards and had to keep it brief.

Deadlift:
2 x 5 at 385, final rep @9.5-10, lowered to finish with 1 x 5 at 365

[EliKoehn]

Just want to say, I've spent the past hour or so reading some of the older posts in this thread, and want to say we've all clearly sharpened one another and I value that a lot. Anyone who's still subscribed, hope you haven't signed off. We're right upon the original deadline before it was moved to December. I know I'm OP, but I'm still seriously in this. Hope we haven't lost EC, DoMore, Savior or JadeMonkey.

Home stretch boys. Let's get it in gear and make good on the end of the year.

*unintentional rhyme stands lol

[EliKoehn]

... And a stupid F&F reference for a show of hands on everyone who's still in this

[WolfRose7]

I

Just want to say, I've spent the past hour or so reading some of the older posts in this thread, and want to say we've all clearly sharpened one another and I value that a lot. Anyone who's still subscribed, hope you haven't signed off. We're right upon the original deadline before it was moved to December. I know I'm OP, but I'm still seriously in this. Hope we haven't lost EC, DoMore, Savior or JadeMonkey.

Home stretch boys. Let's get it in gear and make good on the end of the year.

*unintentional rhyme stands lol

Cool To hear you got so much out of it Eli
Sure people will drop in, I've been part of a lifting group for years and people drop off with life stress and shifting priorities, but most come back.

Day 1 of my last week, slight gains back on squat and Bench but feel like week 4 was my best. Will be discussing possibilities of 4 weeks dev blocks as a good option with coach next week.

[CW47]

Definitely still in this. It's a life long commitment for me, so not really even a question of continuing or not. Unless a zombie apocalypse happens, lol.
I'm honestly impressed that we've had multiple people keep active in here throughout.
Totally agree that there's a lot to be learned from each other. Outside input can be incredibly helpful.

Lifts are looking great Wolf. What length cycles have you been doing? 6 weeks?

October 2, 2021: Close Grip Floor Press
155 pounds x 2 reps
125 pounds x 8 reps
This is one of my favorite exercises. These were paused at the bottom briefly to assure I wasn't bouncing my arms off the floor like I tend to do sometimes.
Intent today was to get in more volume than I typically do, while aiming for a top triple. I did a fair amount of reps during the ramp up but didn't track them. Overshot it a little bit on that top triple, as the second rep was definitely a 9+ RPE. Back off work was 80% of the top set, shooting for 8 reps. Final rep was a grind, but I made it. Mission accomplished for the day.

[WolfRose7]

Thanks man, nice variation choice that

Blocks have been 6 or 7.

But based on the below 4 might be productive too. (most recent points are week 6)

[CW47]

Thanks man, nice variation choice that

Blocks have been 6 or 7.

But based on the below 4 might be productive too. (most recent points are week 6)

Screenshot isn't working for me for some reason, but I have a pretty good idea of what your trend line looks like based upon what you've said. 4 weeks is probably worth a try, and you can easily revert if it's not an improvement.


October 3, 2021: Conventional Deadlift
335 pounds x 3 reps

Tried to ease back into deads/squats, so wanted to stay away from true max effort work. During the ramp up, I decided I'd cap the weight at 335 and see how many reps I could do. Ended up at 3, with at least 1 (maybe 2-3) in the tank. I did feel a small twinge in my foot on the second rep because my weight shifted forward just slightly. Nothing worrisome. Good to know my foot can take the weight.

[EliKoehn]

October 4, the original deadline... How about we make it Dec 31?

I massively binged a videogame over the weekend and ended up not lifting, so today I just went heavy and kept it simple.

A.S.
Bench:
295 x 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Barbell Curl:
135 x 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

On that first set of 3 with the curls, the final rep was cheated and involved a lot of lower back, but the first two were clean, as were the rest of the singles.