2023 Collaborative Training Log and Discussion

[CW47]

SSB Box Squat
195 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Walking Lunge
35 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps

Nordic Curl
2 sets x 8 reps

SSB Calf Raise
195 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Face Pull
10 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

I'm in the final round of workouts for this cycle, and seeing some good progress. The squats felt easier today than they have any other day and I've added 20 pounds since the start of the cycle.
Lunges also went well today - this was the first time I actually completed all three rounds. Legs were toast at that point in the previous workouts, but I was still feeling pretty fresh today.

I'm starting to give some thought to my next block and am thinking I'm going to keep a pretty similar structure because I'm enjoying the well rounded approach. I plan to lower the rep range on the primary lifts (down to somewhere around the 4-6 range). Only other changes I'm planning right now are to possibly add 1 more exercise on certain days. I've typically been doing my last 3 lifts as a giant set, but I could add one more exercise and do two supersets without adding much time to the workouts. I'll only do that if it's something that makes sense on a given day, and lines up with a weak point.

Since we're talking about protein drinks - I just starting doing protein drinks a few weeks ago. I had only ever avoided it because I've had an allergic reaction to every powder I ever tried. Some of my allergies have changed (gone away or greatly lessened) over the past year though, so I thought I'd give it a shot. No issues at all so far! I personally really dislike premade protein drinks. I've tried several and they've always had an aftertaste that I don't care for. The powder mix I'm using isn't any special from a flavor standpoint, but I don't get any aftertaste and haven't had any stomach issues with it at all, so I'm very happy to stick with it as long as that continues.

Can't say I've seen any great benefit directly from the protein drinks, but having them after my evening workouts is at least leaving me feeling satiated enough that I'm not feeling compelled to eat before going to bed.

[coachcalande]

This is what I’m doing these days:

“Hybrid” training:

Day——body part——cardio
1- chest/back. Run
2- legs. Run
3- shoulders/arms. Run
4- rest. Run
REPEAT


This am I trained chest and back with my son.
My top set of bench was 275x5
Nothing special and certainly doesn’t show real progress as compared to my training notes over say the last three years. You can see why it’s just time to focus on reducing body fat and becoming a fitness guy…

So after our lift I drove over to the park and ran on grass for 43 min. Eventually it’ll be an hour but my calves are taking a beating with daily running at 270 plus pounds.

I’ve changed my eating habits fast and with no struggle, for example I just took a 7 oz chicken breast piece and dipping into hot mustard, called it “meal 3” at just 360 cals for those 60 plus G protein.

Anyways, the hardest part is running on or after leg days.

[jademonkey]

Leg day. Wife and i alternated sets, her conv DL and me RDL. It's tough when all the weights are in kilos. And the plates were smaller so it was hard to get the right weight for my wife. Lots of mental math. Worked up to about 300x8 RDL, then finished with 352x3 conventional floor pull which was actually deficit. Felt like a full leg press plus hip hinge. Wife started with her usual weight, since she didn't do cardio first, but quickly realized we needed to decrease weight and/or lift off plates.

Leg press (Kairee hates squats lol) she did sets of 3.5 plates per side x 8-10 (used a couple 25 kilo plates, hence the "half"). I worked up to 7.5 plates per side, one deep set and one high rep set. I feel like not going quite full depth is a better workout, cuz when I go all the way down, the first inch or two are very hard, then the rest is way too easy.

Finished with lying leg curls and leg extensions. Wanted to add hip abductions but out of time.

[CW47]

Seated Overhead Press
75 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Lat Pulldown - Close Grip
90 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Triceps Pushdown Burnouts
Bands - 2 sets x AMRAP

Incline Curl
20's - 2 sets x 15 reps

Situps
35 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

I'm still hitting all sets and reps while increasing weight weekly on pretty much everything. This is at least partially because I started out lighter than I needed to on some exercises. Still happy with the progress though. Work capacity has been something I've been trying to build up for a while now and I feel like I'm doing really well on that front. On a lot of days I've been able to get through everything in 35-40 minutes, so I'm moving at a pretty good pace now and not feeling too fatigued during workouts.

[coachcalande]

Weight has dropped 286-272 since making the decision to cut.

Today is legs and run for me …Thats TOUGH but my plan involves running every day, any speed, just put in the time and log the miles. I’m building that volume, the foundation of endurance and hyping the dormant metabolism. The diet is easy, it’s 50-60% protein and I don’t get hangry or anything like that…sometimes a meal is just a hunk of chicken breast. Other times it’s steak and eggs or a big fat omelette. Five meals a day at 2500 cals is the target still and will remain there at least until July.

This is an interesting fact: I’ve never actually gained fat without carbs in my diet…every bulk involved carbs, tracked or not tracked. It’s interesting because on keto, I often pigged out…cookouts were like feasts. I’m tracking now and limiting cals now but one day I’ll have this so down pat it just won’t be necessary. Btw I do not care about “ketosis” at all, just get the protein and stay in a cal deficit.

Anyway squats today will again be using 275 AMRAP

[coachcalande]

Down to 272

Leg and run day!

https://youtube.com/shorts/DLqhHuePrXw

[EliKoehn]

Today, I saw a not-obese guy bench 425 at my work gym! That is insanely impressive and by far the heaviest bench I've seen with my own eyes in person. He was also repping 3 plates for 6 afterwards without a spot. We have a leaderboard for not only the big 3 but also callisthenic totals, fastest mile, etc., that a trainer curates and the previous bench record was 325 x 3, recently updated from 325 x 1. I saw it earlier this week and thought "Huh, that's going to be there for a while" then in walks this guy and puts up 425 full RoM without even a grind! Amazing.

--

From yesterday:

Flat Bench (T&G):
135 x 8, 185 x 4, 225 x 3, 275 x 2 285 x 1, 1, 2

Today:

Conventional Deadlift (Beltless, Raw, Mixed):
5 x 8 at 315 all ~@8-9

Pull ups:
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 at BW

Track Jog:
1.0 miles at 10:23

--

Starting this week, I have begun using a calorie tracking app and have tracked everything I've consumed with as faithful an approximation as I can make when it's not weighed or measured. Even if it's not completely accurate, getting into the mode of tracking everything and having a list of what I'm eating and drinking every day is a big step in the right direction, and a few days in, a 2700 calorie target seems like it will be sustainable. I'm going to bed slightly hungry, but that's a good sign and it's not extreme or liable to prevent me from moderately enjoying richer meals or training properly. As of last Monday, I've taken my weight and waist measurement every day for a weekly average, and unflexed mirror photos once a week for a visual. My goal is to reach a target weight of around 225 in approximately one year. I'm already looking a little better now and my stamina and work capacity are significantly better than a couple of months ago, but this is no race. That's how you rebound or run into a wall.

For having a slight to moderate deficit, this is decent work over the last few days. The 285 felt heavier than the 295 previously, but that's okay under the circumstances. Pleased to have gotten a good volume of decent working weight deadlifts and to have been able to jog a full mile even at a slow pace. Was winded but not close to exhaustion at the end. Probably would have truly capped out somewhere between two and three.

[CW47]

Stiff Legged Deadlift
265 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Leg Curl
110 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Rear Delts
Band - 2 sets x 30 reps

Donkey Calf Raise
60 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Cable Crunch
55 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Same story. Good progress all around. Everything (except the band work) was done with 10 pound increases from the last time I did them. Leg Curls are close to maxed out, but still feels like there's room to keep adding weight on all of the others for a while yet.

Thinking I'm going to start tracking calories pretty soon too. It's the best way I know of to keep myself honest, and attentive to what I'm ingesting.

[coachcalande]

12 straight days of running…

Ran 3 miles after training shoulders and arms. Lost a rep on seated press but that happens…

Going running tomorrow too. #hybrid

2300 cals, 338 G protein

[coachcalande]

4.5 mile run today

[EliKoehn]

Brief session today with my dad.

Flat Bench (T&G):
4 x 8 at 245

Generally these were about @9. Lately I've been benching about an inch narrower than the legal width maximum, but I held it with ring finger on the outside ring this time, so wider than I have been lately. That probably accounted for a little bit of difficulty reduction, but even so this is an improvement on the 4 x 8 lately. I'm feeling some carryover fatigue from that deadlifting the other day and my new job has been engaging and enjoyable but also mentally taxing, so I am glad to be able to rest this weekend.

[jademonkey]

Bench press, 4x8 at 198
Pull downs, wide grip, 3x8 at 165
Romanian deadlift, 4x10 at 264
Squats, 220x8 / 242x8 / 264x8
Hamstring curls and leg extension.
Bicep curls, tricep extension, and lateral raises.

[coachcalande]

My leg day today…

Went running 4 miles. First three were slow and steady, last one interval run.

Had planned to train legs but mowed for over an hour and all the steps today has my knees on fire.

Shoulders, arms and a run tomorrow

[CW47]

Larsen Press
125 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Inverted Row
Bodyweight - 3 sets x 12 reps

Spoon Press
42.5 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

Hammer Curl
37.5 pounds - 2 sets x 11 reps

Hanging Leg Raise
Bodyweight - 2 sets x 12 reps

The going is getting tough on this day. I failed to hit my rep goal for the first time on any of the lifts with the hammer curls. Just barely made the reps on larsen press, inverted rows, and spoon press.

[EliKoehn]

Keep going guys. Great work here.

--

Short session for me. I didn't bring clothes to dress out and drove my Corvette to work, so I didn't want to overexert in my work clothes and drive back sweaty in my nice car. All the power racks were taken and I really wanted to do OHP again, so I had to resort to the EZ Bar, which ended up feeling pretty natural for the lift. I haven't done them in a long time and they felt pretty easy at moderately heavy weight for the reps. Does anyone know if the EZ Bar is (no pun intended) mechanically easier in some way than a barbell standing press?

Standing EZ Bar OHP:
3 x 10 at 110

[coachcalande]

I’m monitoring my strength as I add all the running and count cals.

Seated OHP today 185x7-6-5-5 which is pretty much where I started, I had dropped a rep then gained it back.
Upright rows were good

After training shoulders and arms, I ate some burgers and broccoli…took a nap…went for a 40 min run (many hills around here)

[CW47]

High Bar Squat
165 pounds 3 sets x 8 reps

Leg Extension
105 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Nordic Curls
2 sets x 8 reps

Face Pull
15 Pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Short on time today so calf raises got cut. Good quality reps on everything else.

[jademonkey]

Upper only today.

Bench: 236x2 / 236x2 / 236x2 / 231x2 / 225x2
The gym only has the bench press station, no power racks except one with fixed safeties for squats. On the bench rack, I can't reach the high position so I'm stuck using the low position. So I think heavy work is harder, since just unracking requires a half press from a disadvantaged position. Mostly this was about getting quality reps in over 230 without form breakdown. No grinding, just trying to train my muscles to lift heavy weight with good form.

Incline dumbbell press: (72x10)x3
I don't often do incline, but I like to workout with Kairee and she's still improving on the dumbbell lifts so we alternate. I just wanted a slightly different angle here. Wife improved to (33s x10)x3 with the bench flat and they looked solid. I think there's a psychological aspect to seeing "15" on the weight vs "30" - it looks like it should be lighter lol.

Dumbbell rows: (114x12)x3
Just like grabbing the heavy dumbbells. Fairly controlled, just a little body english. Use grips.

Arnold press: 55x7 / 55x5 / 44x7
feel I was too tired from all the other pressing to live up to other recent workouts

Wide grip assisted pull up: 22x8 / 22x8
I like how the wide grip feels. That's it. Kairee often feels tired by this time and opts for pull downs. I'm still looking forward to the day she does a full unassited pull up.

Threw in a set of 4 front lever pulls for fun.
Incline curls, lateral raises, tricep press downs.

[coachcalande]

Ran 4 miles. The first three were steady state and done in 36 min. The last one was run intervals style “straights and bends.”

Shot some basketball this afternoon and marveled at how good my elbows felt shooting. No inflammation.

[RapidFail]

Had an embarrassingly poor squat workout on Tuesday. 121lb for three sets - the first two for 8 reps and the last set was an AMRAP. My goal was 12+ reps but rep 10 was a slow grinder so I stopped there.

I think I just suck at squatting for reps. I hit a relatively easy single of 209lb earlier this year and have done 171lb for 8 reps last year.

That said, I'm actually pretty happy with my quad development - they're visibly possibly my strongest muscles.

[EliKoehn]

Flat Bench (T&G):
5 x 5 at 275

Finally got this again, and it felt easy! All except the final rep of the final set were at least 1 RIR, and the last one wasn't even much of a grind. Did a single pullup in the middle between sets for back tightness and, though a single pullup has never been hard in a decade, I could tell the strength output was greater. Good feeling getting back into this territory.

[coachcalande]

Here’s an update on my fitness journey

https://youtu.be/BUvRGv3w3iw

[CW47]

40 Degree Incline DB Press
50 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Rack Pullup
Bodyweight 3 sets x 12 reps

Triceps Band Burnouts
2 Sets

Incline Curls
22.5 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps

Situp
45 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

DB Presses were 9+ RPE. Missed the rep goal on curls and situps. Good reps throughout though, and pushed it about as far as I could.

[coachcalande]

Here’s an update on my fitness journey

https://youtu.be/BUvRGv3w3iw

Ha, I had just commented on how I was holding steady 274/275 for some reason and WHOOSH it washed off over night as this morning I am at 271 even. Yesterday I ran at the park, it’s a beautiful place to run on fields and trails. I like to alternate between runs in the neighborhood, runs on the track and sight seeing type runs at a new location. My appetite is really picking up.

Today is leg day and I know it’s going to be really tough as I haven’t rested my legs in a long time…I plan to lift legs and still run too.

[jademonkey]

Got 254 bench press today, went up easy. Best weight since taking a few months off in Baja. Still way off my best though. No safeties. No rush. But I am benching almost every time I'm in the gym. Backed off a few sets and increased reps.

RDL, 4 sets of 269x10. I hate RDL but they are so good. Can't do heavy DL at this gym so I can focus on these.

Leg press, 5.5p x10 / 6.5p x10 / 7.5p x10 / 8.5p x5
First set felt sore way back from Monday squats. I haven't squatted once yet in Portugal before Monday so that's probably why I had some lingering soreness. But as often happens with quads (but annoyingly sometimes REALLY doesn't), the soreness went away on the next set.

Pull ups, neutral x12, pronated x10 / x10
Obligatory back work. No set up time for pull ups so easy to put them into leg press rest interval.

Alternated:
Lying hamstring curl: (66x12)x2 Is this wuss weight? I literally never do hamstring curls... so that might explain it. I know machines are all different... but not THAT different unless there's more pulleys. Been doing these a few workouts now. We'll see if my hamstrings grow. Or something. I think my hamstrings look fine but I've never been picky like a bodybuilder.

Leg extension. (50 kgx12)x2

Alternating slightly cheaty dumbbell curls (like a basic bro). 55x10 each, 50x10 each. I usually like super strict curls, but I think heavier weight feels good and has the advantage of getting me used to heavier weight.

Overhead DB tricep extension: 77x10 / 72x10. I prefer single arm overhead cable tricep extensions, but it's much easier to grab a dumbbell if walking around the gym between 4 stations to cram in a few isolations.

Added some lateral raises at the end, as always.

-----------
Thoughts.
I'm liking this 3 day, full, upper, full thing. I'm also really liking the consistency of living in a fixed location for a while, a quick walk from the gym.

I did decide I want to focus a bit on arms and shoulders, but not doing proper squats or deadlift allow me to actually get some good leg work in without the whole ordeal of tiringly heavy weight.

I definitely think my arms are improving by doing dedicated arm work every time I'm in the gym. I don't feel like my arms look big but I get comments on them a lot more than I used to so maybe it's working?

[CW47]

Back Raise
105 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Leg Curl
110 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

Donkey Calf Raise
60 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Cable Crunch
60 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Rear Delt Work
A bunch of Face Pulls and Fly's and Pullaparts

Ended up doing the Back raises last since I was working in with my 13 year old. They were still pretty easy. Probably wouldn't have hit the Leg Curl reps if I hadn't done them first.

[coachcalande]

Down to 270 now. That’s 16 pounds down since the start of this cut and 50 lbs from my heaviest bulk.

I’m training shoulders and arms today. I’m planning to run twice a day for the next three days ….maybe. Depends on how I feel.

[EliKoehn]

Nice job all! Looks like everyone's making progress here. Keep up the good work.

--

I benched three plates again today! Though RPE gets harder to gauge the heavier each rep is, this felt easily @9 and possibly even @8. I over-ambitiously attempted 335 right after to see if I could get it, and that stalled about an inch or two off my chest and my spot assisted me from there. (Admittedly, I forgot that I added 10s rather than 5s as I originally intended but then decided to just go ahead and try it anyway.) Being heavier than when I was doing these weekly in the fall, the relative quality of that performance is lower, but it is still a big milestone to be re-crossing, and I was gripping somewhat more narrowly than I used to, so this was not as wide as legally possible and that perhaps adds some difficulty as well.

Although I have eaten at or above my protein target each day and have rested amply, I can tell that the previous day's 5x5 at 275 was still in recovery ligament-wise, as my shoulders and elbows felt like there was still scaffolding on them, so to speak, and not back at 100%. That really was a huge and sudden jump in volume at that weight for me though, so that makes sense.

Time to stop benching inordinately though. Squats and rows are the highest urgency movement pattern resistance training wise for me right now.

Flat Bench (T&G):
135 x 8, 185 x 5, 225 x 4, 285 x 3, 315 x 1, 335 x fail bolded @9, 8-9, null per fail

[SaviorSelfJT]

Got back from a weeklong vacation, haven’t kept up with reading the log in the meantime. I haven’t been lifting either of course over the week, but I’m sure I haven’t been running a calorie deficit lol

I’ll probably do a medium workout tomorrow

[coachcalande]

40 min run yesterday
45 min run today